Raising Hell Down on the Farm
by courderouge2006
Summary: Sequel to Small Towns and Hellmouths. Buffy and Spike return to Smallville with Clark and Chloe for a break, but as always, things are never that simple.
1. Chapter 1

Alright, so this is my attempt at a sequel to "Small Towns and Hellmouths", which seemed to go over well. This most likely won't be posted as quickly as I haven't written the entire story out yet, and I'm fighting professors and a wicked cold. Reviews are always welcome, and I hope you enjoy. Oh yea, I still don't own any of this stuff, Smallville, BTVS or even the cool truck.

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It had been 31 hours since Clark pulled away from the Hyperion's front curb before he finally saw a welcome sight. "Home sweet home."

Spike sat up in the backseat rubbing his eyes, careful not to disturb the blonde head leaning against his shoulder. "We finally there, Farm Boy?" He looked in the direction Clark pointed, seeing the large colorful "Welcome to Smallville!" sign. "Meteor Capital of the World?" he asked, looking back at Clark.

"We've had two meteor strikes in sixteen years." Clark pulled through the town, waving at several of the townsfolk they met. Looking down, he couldn't help but smile at Chloe, her head leaning against his shoulder. A quick check in the mirror showed Buffy laying her head on Spike's lap, Spike stroking her hair as he looked around the streets.

They passed through the town and started heading down a rural road, cornfields surrounding them. Spike couldn't help smiling at the bright sunlight shining off the stalks. It was so good to be back out in daylight after a century and a half. "We 'bout there mate?"

Clark nodded, turning onto the dirt road heading towards his family farm as soon as he did. He was so happy to see his home again, what had only been a week away seeming much, much longer. The bumps down the lane made Chloe sit up, rubbing her eyes. "Where are we?" Brushing her hair back, she focused her eyes and smiled nearly as brightly as Clark had. They were home.

Spike rubbed Buffy's back gently. "Buffy luv, wake up. We're there." She sat up suddenly, hair a mess in her face. Brushing it back, she looked around to get her bearings.

"Wow Clark. That's a lot of… grass."

Everyone chuckled at that. They all knew this would be her first exposure to something less than a large thriving town. This was the simple life, country life.

Clark pulled up next to the barn, sliding the door open and stretching his legs finally. He had finally agreed to accept the truck from them when they told him that they used spare funds from the Council accounts and had gotten a deal on the truck. He had been driving almost non-stop, not needing as much rest as the others had. Spike and he had swapped off one time around Denver, but that had led to some humorous, albeit embarrassing moments with the women who had been sleeping when their boyfriends swapped seats. Clark could have told you what Buffy had for dinner at the drive thru several hours before by the time the slayer realized it wasn't Spike she was kissing.

Walking around, he opened Chloe's door for her, helping her down from the tall truck. She ran her thumb over the still visible cuts on Clark's face, a reminder of what they had just faced. Climbing back up onto the truck's running board, she gave him a kiss.

Clark looked at her with a wide smirk. "What was that for?"

"For saving my life. So many times over."

Buffy's voice broke the moment. "He saved my butt too, should I give him a kiss?" She was answered with a pair of low growls… one from Spike and one from Chloe. "Guess not," she said, climbing down and raising her eyebrows sheepishly. "It was just a joke."

Someone clearing their throat broke the moment. Four heads snapped over and saw a red haired woman standing by the barn door, a taller blonde man leaning against the door behind her. "Glad to see you made it home son. Things look a little different from when you left though." Clark sputtered for a little while, trying to figure out what to say. Jonathan walked over and wrapped his son in a hug, laughing at the dumbfounded look on Clark's face.

Martha walked to Chloe and enveloped her in a hug as well. Spike and Buffy stood back, watching the tender moment. Martha went over to Clark and gasped as she looked up. "Clark! What happened to you?" She ran her hand over his face, seeing the cuts and bruises he had still remaining.

"I'm fine mom. I just had a bigger fight than we thought. Everything out there had some sort of mystical foundation, so I was more vulnerable than usual." He brushed her hand away, not wanting her to make too big a fuss, and not wanting her to treat him like her baby in front of his friends.

"Oh but don't worry, he kicked some serious ass." Spike spoke up, receiving an elbow to the ribs from Buffy. "Oof! What the hell Buffy?" Another elbow hit him in the side. "WHAT?"

"Watch your mouth!" Buffy whispered in a harsh tone. She walked up to Clark's father. "Hi Mr. Kent, I'm Buffy Summers, and this one with no manners is…"

"Spike. Or William the Bloody? Which do you prefer lately?" Everyone stared at Jonathan wide eyed. "What? I told you I was involved with the Watcher's council for a while now. I read up on the biggest threats. And you sir, you were one of the biggest." He stood stoically, arms crossed.

Spike crossed his own arms, stepping forward. He might have quit being evil a while ago, but his ego still required him to act the "Big Bad" every now and then. "What do you mean 'were'?" He stared up the difference in height between himself and the elder Kent.

"It's been a while since you started fighting for the good guys. And you even went after your own soul." He glanced at Buffy. "With proper motivation. I told you, I do my homework. I know you're not a threat to me or my family, which is the only reason you lived long enough to step out of that truck." Jonathan kept a slight grin the entire time he spoke to the former vampire, rattling off words matter of factly.

Spike's lips formed a thin line, his nostrils flaring… and then he laughed. "Are you sure you worked for the Council? You don't seem to have the pre-requisite stick shoved up your ass." He patted Jonathan on the shoulder, making the farmer break out in laughing with him.

Clark and Chloe stood back, watching the exchange with slight grins. Martha couldn't help but notice their hands clasped together tightly, fingers laced. She tried to hide her excitement, but soon burst into a fit of giggles. Jonathan looked at her then followed her eyes… and couldn't help but smile himself.

Spike noticed what was up. "Oh yea, they been doin' that for days. Enough to make a fellow sick it is." Feeling another smack upside the back of his head, he turned to his own girlfriend. "Buffy! That's… I've had it up to…" Finally he turned to Clark's mom. "Mrs. Kent, make her stop!"

"Oh you are such a momma's boy and she's not even your mom!" Buffy had her hands on her hips, smiling incredulously at her boyfriend.

"Maybe not, but anyone who can keep Farm Boy in check has to be able to handle you!" He hid behind Martha and stuck his tongue out, earning a soft pop from Martha in his stomach with the back of her hand. "That's it! I'm going in the barn. It has to be less violent than out here around all of you women."

He was making his way towards the barn door when a hand grabbed his elbow. "Spike, calm down. It's not like all the women have hit you." Chloe said softly. Then she smacked him in the left temple with a soft hit.

He stared at her, sputtering… "Wha… why… what are…"

Chloe just shrugged. "I didn't want to be left out."

Spike stomped off towards the barn again, muttering about "Bloody women…" and "Shoulda stayed in L.A."


	2. Chapter 2

Warning. Clana fans, or fans of Lana in any respect, beware. And no I still don't own anything. Why, what have you heard?

Spike finally came into the kitchen when Mrs. Kent promised him she'd cook him anything he'd like that night. The prospect of home cooked food with his newly reborn taste buds was enough to make him forget whatever he was upset about. He came in to see a hot lunch laid out on the table, and all resistance gave in.

He had just finished off his third helping of meatloaf with whipped sweet potatoes when he noticed everyone, even Clark, staring at him. "What? You spend 150 years with everything tasting close to ash and see if you don't make a pig of yourself right away."

Martha just smiled and sat the cherry pie she had baked that morning on the table. "I think its fine. It's nice having someone else to cook for, even though between you and Clark I might need a bigger kitchen."

They sat around telling the Kents what had happened several days earlier during their epic battle, all the way down to Clark saving the bus form the crater, and then Spike saving Clark from the bringer who stabbed him in the back. At that, Martha was standing behind Clark, demanding he let her see the wound to see if it was healing. He finally relented, blushing deeply.

Clark had just finished buttoning his shirt when the door opened. "Knock knock," a sweet sounding voice filled the air, and Lana Lang appeared in the kitchen.

"Lana, hello. Come on in here, pull up a seat." Jonathan stood up to welcome her, offering his seat.

"Thank you, Mr. Kent. But I was just coming by to see if Clark was around." She smiled sweetly at him. "Do you think we could talk for a minute?" She held the screen door open, implying she wanted to speak in private.

"Uh, sure. We can talk." He stood slowly, then stopped as he saw Chloe. She had her hands clenched, tapping her fingers together. He could feel her tension, and he leaned down and kissed her cheek. She looked up surprised, and then smiled back at him as he walked around the table.

Lana saw what was happening, but she brushed it off as a friendly gesture. Clark held the door for her as she walked out, then he followed, shutting the door behind them.

Buffy sat back, observing everything that had just happened. "Chloe, what was that all about?"

Chloe smiled and leaned back in her chair, the cheek Clark had kissed moments ago cupped in her palm. "That was nothing. Not anymore."

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Clark and Lana walked quietly out toward the barn, neither breaking the peaceful silence stretched between them. Finally, Clark had enough of the quiet. "Lana, what are you doing here? What is going on?"

The shorter girl smiled up sweetly at Clark, a gesture that long ago he would have longed for, but now only filled him with unease. It was easy to see how fake the smile was, how forced. "I just came by to see if you had thought anymore about what we discussed. Are you ready to get back together now and forget about all this breaking up silliness? I'm ready to take you back." She reached out for his hand, shrinking back slightly at the sight of the bandage still covering his hand, spots of blood visible through the white fabric, and placed her hand on his forearm.

Clark stepped back, pulling away from her instantly as she touched him. "If we're ready to get back together? Lana, I've been gone for a week. I'm cut up, bruised, and bleeding slightly still, and the only thing you care about is if I'll come crawling back to you?"

Lana finally dropped the smile at the harsh tone in Clark's words. "Excuse me? I came here to check on you and see if you had gotten over this idiotic phase you've been going through. Do you know what you've put me through Clark? When they declared you dead, and then you woke up and left without even trying to find me. And now you've been off doing god knows what and didn't even tell me you were going somewhere? And do I need to bring up the secrets you're always keeping from…"

"THAT'S IT!" Clark's hands sliced the air to emphasize his exclamation. "I'm sick and tired of it always being about you Lana. Like you said, I was declared legally dead, and then I came back. Do you know how that messes with your head? What you think about after something like that? I'm sorry if I wanted to see my folks and check on them right away, I'm sorry if you can't understand that!"

He started pacing. "And this week? I was a part of something big, something incredible, and I knew you wouldn't understand because it didn't involve you. All you think about these days is the meteor showers and what happened during them…"

"My parents died during the meteor shower Clark, I have every right to care about finding out the truth!"

"And I had every right to put my parents before you when I came back! And I had every right to put what happened this week at the forefront without having to clear it with you. So my question is why is it ok for you to put things ahead of me, but not vice versa?" His arms crossed, he stood still and waited for her answer.

Lana was at a loss for words. Clark had never acted like this, he had always been so… dependable. That's who he was, good old dependable Clark, always there when you needed something done. "At least I haven't kept anything from you Clark." She spoke lowly, venom in her words.

"Yeah, because camping out most nights at the Luthor mansion and spending every waking moment with a guy that carries blinding lust for you is something you have been so forthcoming about."

Lana stepped back, her hand coming up to her mouth. "There is nothing going on between Lex and I. How dare you accuse me of that."

Clark had to chuckle. "You're going to stand here and tell me that you don't see the feelings he has for you? You don't use that to get him to do whatever you want or need, just like you did with me?"

Even if he had been at full power, Clark was sure he would have been able to feel Lana's hand as she slapped him across the face.

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"Oh that's it!" Chloe was already heading for the kitchen door after seeing Lana slap her boyfriend through the kitchen window. A pair of hands gripped her elbows, pulling her back.

"Whoa there Chloe, you don't need to be getting involved in this one." Spike relaxed his grip, but did not let the feisty blonde go.

"Did you not see what she just did to him? He's beat up already, and she slaps him?"

Buffy stepped in this time. "Chloe, first off, I'm guessing that there's a lot of history and tension between you three, hmm?" Chloe simply nodded. "And seriously, right now is not a time for you to finally let all of that frustration out. You're stronger now, the simplest blow could knock the girl stupid… or stupider if my first impression of her is correct."

Chloe finally settled down and returned to the window, smirking as she saw Lana cradling her hand. "You're right. Let her beat herself up over it."

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Lana was holding her hand tightly, wincing in pain. "God Clark, how hard is your head!"

Clark rubbed his cheek, feeling the warm skin and a slight trickle of blood where she had reopened one of the cuts. "Pretty hard apparently. I'm sorry, did you hurt yourself while you were trying to slap me cross-eyed?" His face held no sympathy for her.

Lana glared back. "You broke my hand you jerk!"

"First off, you broke your own hand on my cheek. And secondly…" He did a quick scan with his x-ray vision, "It's not broken. Just hurt."

"How can you possibly know that it's not? Where were you last week, medical school?" She shot back.

"No Lana. But you can move your fingers, so it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the bones aren't broken."

Her eyes went wide. "Are you calling me an idiot?"

"No, but you're the girl who just decided it would be a good idea to slap a guy a foot taller and who was raised on a farm all his life." He barely contained the smirk.

Lana stood as tall as she could, poking Clark in the chest. "Yea well, that's all you'll ever be Clark. A farm boy. You'll never be anything better, just like your whole family. You're all just a bunch of dirt farmers. You can't even see what you have in front of you. I could have helped you Clark, could have shown you your potential. But you blew it! Good luck finding someone else to put up with you!"

A voice broke in from the direction of the house. "He already did."

Clark and Lana both turned to see Chloe standing on the top step. Clark smiled brightly as Lana sputtered. "Chloe? You're throwing away what we had together to be with Chloe?"

Chloe closed the distance between them and sank against Clark's side, her arm wrapping around his back. "He's not throwing anything away. He just upgraded to someone who respects him and tries to understand him Lana, not just lord over him and use his insecurities to her advantage."

Lana watched Clark's arm go around Chloe's shoulder, her eyes wide and mouth open. "How long has this gone on? You were cheating on me with Chloe?"

Shaking his head, Clark sighed. "Chloe and I have only been together a few days Lana, after you and I broke things off. But looking back, I should have seen how I felt about her long ago. If it makes you feel better, think whatever you want, but we did not do anything to hurt you or embarrass you."

Lana was fuming mad now, nostrils flaring. She looked from Clark to Chloe. Then she reared back again, swinging her good hand right at Chloe's face.

Instead of the satisfying smack she expected, she only felt pain as Chloe caught her by the wrist and bent it slightly. "Clark might be too much of a gentleman to hit you back for trying that with him Lana. But if you hit me or my boyfriend again, I promise you won't mistake me for a lady." She pushed Lana away, not breaking her gaze.

Without saying another word, Lana turned quickly and walked off. "No one makes a fool of me…" She reached out to open the door, stopping just long enough to glare back at the couple… then screamed out as she pulled the door handle with her swollen hand, forgetting about it for a moment. Hearing a slight chuckle from somewhere towards the house, she slammed the door behind her and drove off. She was just turning onto the main drive when she saw Mrs. Kent weeding in her garden. Martha stood up and walked towards the fence as Lana slowed. Lana put her best smile forward again and rolled down the window. "Hi Mrs. Kent."

"Hello Lana. I couldn't help but hear some arguing, are you ok dear?" Martha laid her hand on the jeep's door, her voice taking a maternal tone.

Lana slipped into her pitiful face. "Yes Mrs. Kent, I just don't know why Clark does things like this to me."

Pushing her gardening hat back some, Martha just sighed. "I don't know dear. I can't explain a lot of what he does, but usually it all turns out for the best." She smiled at Lana sweetly.

Lana stumbled a bit at this, wondering what exactly the elder woman meant. "I guess so Mrs. Kent. I just hope he realizes he's making some big mistakes." She moved to put the car in drive when Martha laid a hand on her arm.

"Oh Lana, I don't think he's made any mistakes in this one. I think Clark's finally growing up and realizing what's in front of him. Oh and one other thing." Martha leaned in the window slightly. "If I ever hear that you have talked down about my husband or my family again, such things as 'You'll never be anything better than a dirt farmer just like your family', I might forget about being a lady too. Jonathan and I have been nothing but kind to you since you lost your parents. For once, I'm glad they can't see the type of person you've become." Her eyes darkening slightly to match her words, Martha leaned back from the vehicle. "Do we understand each other?"

Lana simply nodded, unable to think of anything else to say or do… then she floored the gas pedal, speeding off down the dirt driveway back towards the main road.

Martha brushed the dirt from her hands and put her hat back on, kneeling down to work again. Peeking up between the barn and her gardening shed, she could see Clark and Chloe kissing softly. "Clark finally got it right," she muttered to herself, smiling as she went to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. This chapter deals with some deeper stuff, and everyday stuff we don't usually see on the shows. And a surprise guest at the end... who could it be? Still don't own squat.

Spike was trying to get comfortable on the love seat he was stuck sleeping on. Glancing over at Clark, he wondered if he'd be able to toss the younger man off the sofa and settle in before he was fully awake. "Nah, not worth the risk."

Spike had just managed to doze off again when he smelled something. Sitting up groggily, he saw Clark's dad in the kitchen drinking steaming coffee out of a cow mug. "Mr. Kent?" he asked, blinking against the light from the oven range.

"Good morning Spike. Coffee?" He picked up the coffee pot and poured another cup on the counter.

"What time is it?"

Jonathan checked his watch. "It's about 5:25. We're burning daylight."

"It's not even technically daylight yet." Spike walked around the couch, sitting on the stool at the counter. He sipped at the coffee, face twisting bitterly. "God. Do you have any sugar, cream, anything?"

Jonathan smirked, then reached around and handed Spike the bear shaped honey jar. Spike eyed him, one eyebrow raised, then poured a liberal portion into his coffee. Drinking it slowly, he had to admit the honey helped the flavor. "So, what are we doing today?"

It was Jonathan's turn to look wary. "We? You volunteering to help out with the chores?"

"Course I am. I can't expect you guys to let me and Buffy to stay here without helping out in some way."

Jonathan smiled. "Well, Clark tells me you're not quite… normal in some respects. The Shanshu wasn't exactly what everyone had thought, was it? It didn't just make you human again."

Spike looked up, a small smile on his face. "You really are full of surprises. You know all this stuff about slayers and vampires, even the Shanshu?"

"Well, I kept up with it, even though I wasn't as involved as others like Rupert. I was here to watch after Chloe and make sure she had some form of guidance. I hope I did a pretty good job, I know I'm certainly proud of her."

Spike nodded. "Yea, she's a strong one. Reminds me of my girl a bit." Spike looked down at the cup, thinking about Buffy, sleeping not even a hundred feet away.

"So, Liam didn't quite fit the bill of Champion? I didn't think he was right. The soul was a punishment, not a strength."

Spike put his coffee down and walked around the counter, gripping Jonathan Kent in a hug. Jonathan was surprised, and simply patted Spike on the arm. Spike, realizing what he was doing, pulled away suddenly stuttering. "I uh… that was just… I was… I mean, no one's ever actually said that. I didn't think anyone else saw that except me!"

Jonathan just laughed softly. "No, I always thought that."

Clark stirred softly, and Jonathan put his coffee down, moving towards the couch. Spike reached out and stopped him. "Mr. Kent, let him rest some. He took most of the driving on the way here, and he was pretty wiped out after the fight. I'll help you out, just let me get some clothes. I don't really have anything to work in though."

"I can help you with that." Jonathan moved upstairs and came down several minutes later, some jeans and a red t-shirt in one hand and an old pair of scuffed work boots in the other. "These might be a little big, but there's a chance my clothes will fit you better than Clark's."

Spike took the offered clothes and headed to the bathroom downstairs. He emerged minutes later, the clothes a little baggy, but he had to admit they were comfortable. "All right, let's get down to it." Following Jonathan outside, Spike was looking forward to getting his hands dirty in the sunlight again.

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Spike leaned back against a post. They had been working for several hours, and he was feeling blisters form on his hands. It had been a while since that happened. "I've still got strength, but I'm feeling sore a lot easier than I used to," he contemplated to himself. He stood back up, determined not to let the older man show him up. He grabbed another hay bale and tossed it onto the trailer. "Where are we taking all this?"

Jonathan took his gloves off and wiped his forehead. "Well, we're going to spread it to some of the troughs around the pastures, and we have to load up those bags of grain, too."

Spike looked at the two dozen fifty pound bags and let out a slight groan. He stepped it back up when he heard Jonathan chuckle and moved over to start on them. Carrying two at a time, he tossed the bags into the truck bed, and headed back to the pile.

"Slow down Spike. You know, now that you're human again, you can have human problems again. Heart attacks come to mind."

Spike looked down, remembering what Clark had told him about his father's health problems one night in the basement. "Mr. Kent, go take a coffee break or something, I'll get this loaded. And I promise to take it easy."

Jonathan looked the man up and down and then pulled his gloves back on. "We'll see who needs a coffee break. Don't forget, you are way older than me."

"Hey, I'm only in my twenties! Those hundred and fifty some years don't count technically."

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Martha, Chloe and Buffy were all sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast, taking an occasional glance out at the two blonde men working hard in the early hours of the morning. Clark was still unconscious on the sofa, stretched out. Buffy was digging into her second plate of Martha's pancakes with homemade strawberry syrup. "Oh man, these are so much better than the ones I'd make in the microwave," she said with her mouth full, syrup dripping down her chin.

"I'm glad you like them dear. We're happy to have you and William come to stay with us after everything you went through. I was so proud when Clark told us what all you did." Martha didn't call Spike by his nickname, she was the only one who called him William. Spike didn't mind it that much, though he had to put up a front as if it offended him greatly.

Buffy blushed slightly, looking down at the plate. "We didn't really do much. Clark saved our butts. He saved Spike too, we didn't even think that the amulet was a set up." She teared up slightly, thinking about how close she had come to losing him again.

Martha placed her hand over Buffy's. "But it all turned out well. That's what is important. All of it turned out well." She placed her other hand on Chloe's making sure she knew what she meant by that last statement. Chloe couldn't help but smile, looking back at Clark.

"Thank you for letting me stay here too, Mrs. Kent. My dad is out of town on business for a little while, and I really don't feel like being alone right now."

"It's no problem at all Chloe, you know that. You're like a daughter to Jonathan and me, you're always welcome here." She turned to the other blonde. "And the same goes for you and William, Buffy. You're always welcome in our home."

Buffy couldn't believe how welcoming this family had been to them, even with their differences. The Kents were fine people from all she had seen.

"Giggling… everywhere… MAKE IT STOP!" Clark shot up from the couch, breathing heavily. "Oh god, another dream…" He put his head in his hands, trying to catch his breath.

Chloe and Buffy broke out laughing as Martha just looked confused. Chloe turned back to her. "Clark Kent, fifty teenage girls, one house. He was exposed to a lot more than he's used to." Martha even laughed after hearing the explanation.

Clark stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter. "What time is it?"

"It's a quarter till nine, sweetie." Martha handed Clark a glass of orange juice.

"Nine! I have to get out there, dads by himself."

"No, William has been helping him all morning. He said he wanted to earn his keep around here." Martha went to the stove and started making Clark a plate of breakfast. "They should be in soon for breakfast anyway, they've been out there longer than usual. I think your father showed William up earlier and now he has to prove he can pull his own weight."

At that moment the door opened and Spike walked in first laughing, Jonathan patting him on the back. "Not bad for a morning's work son." He walked over and kissed his wife, then noticed his son. "Good morning sleepyhead. I was going to wake you up but Spike said to let you get some rest."

Clark was still looking at Spike, shocked to see him in a red t-shirt and old worn jeans. It was totally different from what he was used to since he had met him. "Spike? Are you wearing something besides black?"

Spike looked offended. "Hey Farm Boy. Are you insinuating I show preference to a certain color?" He couldn't hold the look for long though. "Yeah, your dad lent me some clothes. I gotta admit, they're pretty comfortable." He moved over and kissed Buffy's cheek only to be pushed away.

"Spike! You smell! What did you do, play in a pig stall?"

Everyone else laughed at that, Martha leaning closer. "You get used to it sweety."

Chloe hopped up, putting her arms around Clark and sneaking a good morning kiss. "I need to go back to Metropolis and check on things at work. My short term leave is up tomorrow. Can you take me?"

Clark looked over to his parents, then back at Chloe. "I don't know. I need to help dad catch up here…"

"No you don't son. I can handle a farm on my own you know, you weren't always around. Just take care of a couple things and then you and Spike can take the girls to Metropolis for the day. Show them the sights."

Clark smiled brightly, and then a whoosh was heard… everyone turned to see the kitchen door wide open and could barely catch a glance of Clark standing in the barn doorway holding a pallet of feed right before he took off.

He came back in two minutes later. "Troughs are filled with grain and hay, dad."

Spike just shook his head. "Spent all damn morning just filling that trailer and raking hay, now Farm Boy takes care of it in two minutes…" He sat at the counter, pouting. Buffy leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"I still think you look sexy all hot and sweaty…" she whispered in his ear, smiling as his lips turned into a grin. "But you still smell… so go take a shower." She plodded upstairs with Chloe to get ready.

Spike sat there staring up the stairs. "Alright, let's go Farm Boy, let me see some of your clothes. I don't think I'm gonna fit in around here in my usual style." Clark led Spike upstairs, checking that the girls weren't in his room before going in and opening the closet.

Several minutes later Spike and Clark were back downstairs, Clark in his trademark plaid and Spike wearing a blue t-shirt with a white over shirt, untucked with the sleeves rolled up. The faded jeans he borrowed had pooled around his black boots, and he looked very much different from his usual all black ensemble. Chloe and Buffy had to do a double take when they saw him. "Spike?" Buffy said, walking over to him. "This is… wow."

Spike rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous look on his face. "I look weird huh?"

"Well, yeah. But it's a good weird, different weird. I mean, I've never seen you in anything besides black. This is just different. But I like it." She kissed him quickly and took his hand. "Now come on, we're gonna go check in on Chloe's job and then we're getting a tour of the big city!" Buffy's eyes lit up, and Spike couldn't help but chuckle.

Clark and Chloe had already stepped outside to give them some privacy and were leaning against the truck. "We ready to go now?" Clark asked.

Spike nodded and opened the door for Buffy. She smiled and patted his head. "Good boy." She laughed as she jumped up into the backseat, followed closely by Spike. "Unh uh buddy boy, you're riding shotgun with Clark. Chloe's going to show me her scrapbook on some of the strange stuff around here."

"But… but…" Spike muttered but finally climbed out of the back. He held the door for Chloe and then went around and climbed in the front passenger seat. Clark started the truck up and was backing out of the driveway. He started driving towards the highway to head to Metropolis. Spike was busy going through his CD collection, and had already put down half of the options. "Oh, Johnny Cash? Saw him in Nevada once."

Clark looked away from the road for a second, eyes wide at the mention of one of his favorite singers. "You saw Johnny Cash live?"

"Yeah. Wasn't really my thing but he had a sound that just grabs you. First started going for the all black look after I saw him, thought it made me look bad ass. I never could get that sneer down right though, just looked like I had gotten hold of some bad whiskey." He attempted the sneer again, but only succeeded in looking like he was constipated.

They heard the girls in the backseat chatting and going through Chloe's "Wall of Weird" scrapbook. The drive went by quickly enough, with the girls chatting and Spike filling Clark in on some of his other encounters with celebrities. He was having a hard time convincing Clark he had inspired Billy Idol's look. "I'm telling you, I ran into the punk in a pub in London, and he asked me what I used to bleach my hair!" Clark was laughing too hard to say anything back.

They slowed down some as they got further along towards Metropolis, the outskirts becoming more crowded with the big city traffic. Clark pulled into the Daily Planet parking structure and showed Chloe's press pass. Walking into the building, Spike was still trying to convince Clark of his influence on a rock legend.

"I'm serious Farm Boy, why the hell would I make something like that up? And why would I dress like him if I wasn't doing it first, I've never been a lapdog type in all my un-life." Buffy elbowed him in the ribs again. "Damn it Buffy, that spot is bruising up real bad by now you know. Can you find somewhere else to give me your love taps?"

"Spike, not everyone around here is knowledgeable about the kind of things we are. So keep a lid on it ok? We're not at the farm, or Sunnydale, we're around regular people." She put her arm around his waist and walked beside him, sinking comfortable into the crook of his arm.

Spike hugged her to him and simply nodded. He toned himself down for now, but wasn't going to let this go so easily.

Clark sat on the edge of the desk while Chloe was going through e-mails and memos she had been given when she checked in. Some write ups here, a few old leads to get back to, but nothing that was really an emergency. She was emailing a few people back when Spike leaned around to look at something on her desk. "You in college too, pet?"

"I will be. Journalism major, University of Metropolis." She smiled brightly as she said it, never tiring of telling people her plans in pursuing her main interest.

"You'll do great Chloe, I read some of those articles from high school. You could have put our paper back in Sunnydale out of business easily, it sucked." Buffy made an "ick" face as she thought back to the one section papers they were overcharged for. "I guess I can think about going back to school now. At least I don't have to worry about patrolling as much now."

Spike looked at her confused. "Are you gonna give up the Slayer gig, luv?"

"Not completely, but I'm not the only one around. It's not all on my shoulders." She shot a smirk at Chloe.

Chloe raised an eyebrow back at her. "Well, you're gonna have to stick around long enough to train me."

Buffy smiled. "That's right! I get to train someone. Oh, we have to go somewhere and get some training gear. Is there a sports store around anywhere?"

Clark looked up from reading an old edition of the Daily Planet. "Yeah, there are a couple in the ma…" He didn't even notice Spike reaching up to slap a hand over his mouth suddenly, but it was too late. "..ll downtown." He looked at Spike wide eyed. "Pi? Muh ha hill ah hew hewing?" Was all that came out, muffled by Spike's hand.

"Have you ever gone shopping with a girl on a mission? Never taken your girlfriend to the mall before?"

Clark only shook his head. He suddenly noticed Chloe and Buffy talking excitedly, and caught bits and pieces like "Gap" and "Pacific Sun" and "Four floors of stores" and he realized why Spike had tried to shut him up. "Oh crap, what did I do?"

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Two hours later, Clark and Spike were following the girls, carrying a ton of bags and whimpering softly now and then. Finally, Buffy turned around and faced them. "Ok, I'm tired of the little noises and grunts, so how about this. You guys go put these bags in the truck and we'll meet you in the food court in a few hours? How does that sound?"

Clark's eyes went wide. "A few MORE hours?"

Chloe rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. "Three hours, I promise that's all. We'll meet you guys then ok?"

Clark and Spike nodded slowly and started to make their way towards the entrance. After cramming the bags into the backseat, they walked back in and tried to figure out how to kill two hours and 56 minutes.

They were walking along when Spike suddenly stopped in front of a store. Clark noticed he was missing and walked back to see where he went, finding him in front of Old Navy. "You wanna go in here?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"Well yeah. It looks like it might have some stuff I could use now. I don't know, but I don't really feel like all the black is really fitting anymore since I can go out in daylight." Spike stepped inside and started looking through some of the racks. They walked out a while later and Spike was carrying several bags and wearing some new clothes; Frayed blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a black button up shirt. Clark had to admit he did look different, but he looked more laid back as well.

Spike stopped in front of a hair salon next. "Hey, I wanna stop here."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, getting tired of ripping off Billy Idol's look?"

"Bloody Hell Farm Boy! How many times do I have to tell you, he ripped me off!" Spike walked in, leaving Clark laughing so hard he fell back onto a bench. Clark was walking around the electronics store across from the salon, testing out a few newer video games when he noticed Spike coming back out. He went out and found him sitting on the bench, but he looked completely different. His hair was cut shorter now, not long enough to spike but not quite a crew cut. And it wasn't bleached anymore, it was light brown.

Spike walked over. "Whadda ya think? It's close to my real hair color."

"It's a big change. What do you think Buffy will think?"

"I'm hoping she won't leave me cause I'm turning into a soddin' normal person. But, I never really got a chance to just kick back and have fun, I was always stuck studying in schools and taking care of my mum. I just want to kick back now and live life, ya know? Nothing too complicated, not havin' to worry about bleachin' and cutting my hair and gel and all that crap. Just wanna be myself." Spike leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I know I can't have a normal life, I've seen too much and been through so much I can't just turn my back on what I am or what I can do. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it some, does it?"

"Hey, do whatever makes you happy Spike. I spent years trying to figure out what I wanted out of life and ended up missing out on most of it."

They started walking down the mall, stopping in book stores, entertainment stores, anything they could find to kill some time. It was close to time to start heading towards the food court to meet the girls and Clark reached out to tap Spike's shoulder when a voice he hadn't heard for a while, and hadn't missed all that much, cut through the air.

"Well, well Clark. It's good to see you're back in town."

Spike turned towards the voice as Clark did, taking in the man talking to him.

Clark sighed loudly and set his shoulders back. "Hello, Lex."


	4. Chapter 4

Still broke.

Chapter 4

Spike looked the man up and down. It looked like the man had raided one of Angel's closets, deep black colors and a long coat. He was certainly pale enough to be a vampire, but Spike felt a completely different kind of threat coming off this one.

"Who's your friend, Clark?"

"Lex, this is Spike. Spike, Lex Luthor." Clark gestured between the two, his voice suddenly sounding tired.

"Spike? You actually go around calling yourself Spike?" Lex's lips formed a thin smile.

Spike matched it with one of his own, lips curling up into a smirk. "And a guy named Lex is making critiques about what I call myself? You know you're name is one letter away from the slang term for 'Carnal Knowledge', right?"

Lex's expression didn't change. "Well, I don't recall seeing you around this area before, new in town?"

"Lex, isn't it a bit presumptuous to think you can remember everyone who has come through a town as large as this?" Spike had set the bags down and stood, arms crossed.

Clark stood back, not wanting to get involved in the "pissing contest" running between the two men. He had to admit it was humorous to see someone facing off against Lex and play his own game.

Lex was looking slightly flustered as this all went on, finally putting his hands into his pockets so they wouldn't see him cracking his fingers in frustration. "Clark, I spoke with Lana last night at dinner. She said you were no longer seeing each other. What could have brought the woman you've doted on tirelessly for years to suddenly leave you?"

Clark stood silently, breathing in deeply. "I think you have your story wrong Lex. I broke it off. I couldn't be in that kind of relationship anymore."

"You couldn't be in a relationship with a smart, beautiful woman?" Lex smirked.

"I couldn't be in a smothering, one sided relationship where nothing I did was right. Where no matter what I did for her, it wasn't enough. Where she could keep secrets and withhold information about her dirty little liaisons…" he glared solidly at Lex on that point, "…but I was crucified for not spilling all my secrets immediately to her. You're right Lex, she is beautiful… on the outside. But maybe that's why you want her so badly isn't it?" Clark stepped up to Lex, eye to eye. "You like the darkness you see. You like that little twisted side to her, and you think you can twist it further, make her into your own little dark princess. I'd call you a vampire Lex, but I think that would be an insult to bloodsuckers."

Spike chuckled, coughing suddenly to cover the noise, his hand over his mouth.

Lex glared back, his defenses failing as his nostrils flared. "You let a goddess slip through your fingers, and for what Clark? For some little blonde tart? I used to think you were this great guy Clark, I trusted your judgment. But now, I see that you're really just an ignorant sod buster, destined to follow in your father's failing footsteps."

"At least my father is a man worth following Lex. The best thing Lionel ever did for humanity was going insane, at least he was off the streets for a while." Clark was lowering down to Lex's level now, not pulling punches.

"You self righteous son of a…"

"Careful Lex, people might think there's a chink in that carefully crafted armor you hide behind so well."

Spike watched the entire thing with eyes wide. The tension and hostility was rolling off these two in tsunami level waves, almost pushing him away. Things had been brewing for a long time, but this wasn't the place to let the powder keg blow. "Clark. We have people to meet, remember?"

Clark looked back to Spike, then nodded. "Yeah." He faced Lex again, a smile taking over his face. "It was good to see you again Lex. Tell Lana I said hey." He patted Lex on the shoulder, squeezing perhaps just a little too hard before he turned, walking away. Clark listened intently, satisfied when he heard the slightest grunt from Lex as he moved his arm, the bones popping against each other.

Lex glared as the two men walked away, reaching inside his pocket for his phone. Hitting a speed dial number, he waited for the line to pick up. "I want everything you can find on someone who goes by the name 'Spike'. Mid twenties, six feet tall, maybe 175. I want it now." Flipping the phone closed, he grinned again. "The gloves are off now Clark."

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Clark and Spike were sitting down at a table in the food court when Spike spotted Buffy and Chloe walking towards them, several more bags in tow. "Hey guys, miss us?" Chloe asked, sitting down next to Clark. He was staring into his soda, thinking back to earlier. He didn't even notice Chloe sitting down. "Clark? Earth to Clark!"

Jumping, he looked over. "Hey Chloe. When did you guys get here?"

Chloe looked at him. "Clark, what's going on? You're pretty out of it."

"We had a run in with an old pal of yours apparently. Pale, dresses in all black, follicly challenged up top." Spike pointed at his head to emphasize, and Chloe grunted.

Buffy looked between them, then suddenly did a double take. "Spike! What happened to your hair!" She ran a hand over his head, feeling the shorter hair, not long enough to curl even.

Spike looked at the table. "Just decided to change a few things."

Buffy sat down next to him, taking his hand. "Why? Do you think you have to change now for me?"

"No luv. I just… I'm not who I was. I'm not stuck in the dark anymore. I just want to live now." He squeezed her hand, hoping she'd understand.

Buffy smiled. "I want you to live, too. As long as I'm here with you."

"Oh you know you are…" he said, growling low in his throat, making her laugh out loud. She shrieked when he pulled her into his lap suddenly, playfully biting at her neck.

Clark laughed at the two, reaching over and taking Chloe's hand. "I might not have changed as drastically as Spike… but I realize what I want out of life now too."

Chloe blushed. "And what might that be Mr. Kent?"

"To live it to the fullest with someone I love." He kissed her hand, making her blush even deeper.

"So, how did things go with Lex?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Not that great, but what can you expect. Things are reaching that point, just like the Kawatche said."

Spike looked over. "Ka-what-y?"

"Kawatche, an Indian tribe that foresaw the arrival of a strong being from another world that would help save the Earth. They also said there would be a great enemy that Namaan, the being, would have to face. A former friend that would turn evil, Sageeth."

"And you and this Luthor guy used to be friends, yea? So now, he fits the bill as Sageeth, heading towards the dark side." Clark nodded and Spike sighed. "Well, I was definitely feeling tension between you two. I've been around evil for over a century and there was definitely something not right with him. I didn't even feel it like that around Angelus, he was more outrageous and took joy in the mayhem. Lex is subdued, he keeps it in… for the most part. I thought he was gonna swing at you there for a minute, you were pissin' him off so bad." Spike was smiling at the thought.

Clark had to laugh at that. "Yeah. I have to admit, I was almost hoping he'd snap. How would that look on the front page of the Planet, 'Billionaire gets in mall brawl with teenager'?"

Chloe had to laugh. "Oh I'd love to write that up for my first major byline."

The four started to head out to the truck, only to be sidetracked several more times when the girls saw a store they just had to go in "just for a second".

Sitting outside the third store, Spike reared back and punched Clark hard in the upper arm. "OW!" Clark grabbed just below his shoulder, rubbing at the skin.

"Good to know I'm still special enough to do that," Spike said. "Maybe next time you'll listen to me when it comes to women."

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Lex walked back into his study, rolling his shoulder. It felt like there was a kink in it and he couldn't work the muscle out. He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop, replying to several messages before he even noticed the sleeping form on his couch. "Lana?"

Lana shifted on the sofa, rolling over. Lex stood, crossing over to the couch and sat on the coffee table next to it. "Lana, what are you doing here?"

Lana sighed, looking up at him. "I… I didn't want to be alone. And there's no one else I can trust right now Lex. Clark left me, and Chloe was trying to sink her claws into him this whole time I thought she was being my friend. Why can't things work out for me Lex, just once?"

He reached out, laying a hand over hers. "Lana, life is not always fair. Why do we have to go through life with nothing but dejection and hardships, and others go through life so carefree? I don't know why Clark and Chloe don't have to deal with things as large as we do, and I don't care. Because what we are doing Lana is going to be bigger than anyone from this town ever conceived. Once we find further proof of what happened during the first meteor shower, we will leave Smallville in the dirt."

Lana stared at the hand laying on hers as he spoke, looking up into his eyes as he finished. She could feel the change in his tone, see the difference in his eyes. "You're right Lex. I deserve better than this. We deserve better. And Smallville will never forget us!" She smiled as she gripped his hand, but this was not the smile of Lana Lang, sweet girl next door. This smile was darker…

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Spike was laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair backwards. They had gone to a restaurant next to the mall for dinner and had spent a while sharing stories, most of which turned out to be embarrassing more often than not. "Oh my god! Dressed like a cheerleader? And you attacked your own cousin? HAHAHAHA!"

Chloe threw a breadstick at him. "Shut up, I was under the influence of some weird meteor kool-aid."

Spike laid his head forward on the table, still laughing. "Oh my god, I'd pay money to have seen that."

Buffy popped him on the back of his head.

"Ow. Not like that pet. It would have just been really funny to see."

Buffy crossed her arms. "Well, she's not the only one who did something crazy when they were in love… _William_."

Spike's smile disappeared. "Buffy." His face was serious now, much more intense.

Buffy smiled happily. "Effulgent."

Spike twitched now… "Luv, let's keep that quiet. It was a long time ago."

Clark was sitting quietly, but even his interest was piqued now. "Keep what quiet?"

"Nothing!" "Spike is a poet."

Chloe and Clark looked back and forth… from Buffy's smug smile to Spike's glare. "You write poetry?" he finally asked.

Spike released his breath, hands clasped tightly. "I used to. Back when I was still human. I thought I was in love with a girl, but it turns out I was wrong. They called me William 'The Bloody Awful Poet'. That's where I actually got my nickname."

"But it wasn't bad poetry. You were ahead of your time Spike."

He looked at her, scarred eyebrow raised. "And how would you know?"

Buffy suddenly looked nervous. "Because I've read your poems."

"You what? How? When?"

"Back in your crypt when we were…" she trailed off. "I would find little scraps laying around, and then I found your notebooks. I took a few and started reading through poetry books. You were ahead of your time, your style just wasn't accepted then Spike. You were a thinker, you wanted to change. If not for…" she shuddered, thinking about Drusilla, "your change in life, eventually you could have been of the people who led to the accepted change."

Spike was quiet. He sat twiddling his thumbs, food all but forgotten. "Yea well, I'm glad it went badly."

They all looked shocked. "You're glad?"

"Wouldn't be here if it weren't for those uptight ponces hating my poem, I wouldn't be here now. With you."

Buffy blushed, suddenly finding the table cloth very interesting.

Clark broke the silent moment. "Ok, I've got one. It was Chloe's birthday, and I had a representative from Princeton coming to talk to me that night…"

"Clark Kent, if you continue that story, I am sewing kryptonite into the waistbands of all your underwear, I swear!" Chloe threatened in a harsh whisper.

"Just do like Spike," Buffy said, tearing off a piece of a breadstick and popping it in her mouth. "Don't wear any."

The table went quiet. Spike sat, tapping his beer bottle against the table. Clark was looking at his plate, and Chloe blushed, imagining what Buffy just talked about.

Spike finally spoke up. "Anyone wanna beer?"

"Oh god yes!"

"Thank you!"

"No, I'm driving."

--------------------------------------------

Across the street, a man sitting in dark blue sedan was making notes on a small pad. The foursome had been sitting there for over two hours, just talking. Finally, one of them… he checked his files and saw it was Kent, Clark, motioned for the check and they all stood up.

When they left the restaurant, he saw them walking back towards the mall. Starting the car, he followed from a distance, circling around in the parking lot before noticing them getting into a red truck. He followed as they left the lot until they were on the highway back out of Metropolis. Turning off at an exit, he parked on the side of the road, pulling his cell phone.

"Yes sir, they just left the city. Headed back towards Smallville, yes. They ate dinner and left, nothing else. Yes sir, just call me again. Alright Mr. Luthor."

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Sitting in his study, Lex hung up his phone, glancing at the sleeping girl on his couch, the fireplace casting a warm glow across her. "We will change everything, my love. Together."


	5. Chapter 5

Here ya go, next chapter. And I'd like to thank dance shop snark for her help, always appreciated darlin'. Regular disclaimers apply.

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The next day everyone set into a normal routine. The boys got up and started working with Jonathan, while Buffy and Chloe were setting up to start Chloe's training. After a big breakfast, everyone returned to their planned activities.

Chloe and Buffy had set up a sparring area under Clark's loft, and Chloe was picking the technique up quickly. Buffy was impressed with her basic knowledge of several different martial arts, and her self defense skills were top notch. There was something to be said for growing up in strange towns.

"Alright Chloe, let's start some sparring with weapons." She went over to the corner of the barn, grabbing a couple of wooden staffs Mr. Kent had lying around. "This is similar to your basic bo staff. For our purposes, usually one end would sharpened to a point, easier for dusting, and the other kept blunt since we don't want to rip everyone open. Some enemies don't just turn to ash."

Chloe nodded. Stepping back, she began to mimic Buffy's movements. They were going through basic thrusts, attacks and defenses. Chloe attempted a behind the back twirl when she slammed herself in the back of her head, hitting her knees instantly. "OWW!"

Buffy dropped the staff and ran over, kneeling next to Chloe. "Are you ok? Oh my god, that sounded really bad." She was looking at the back of Chloe's head when she heard her speak very faintly.

"I'm fine Clark, don't worry."

Buffy stood up, helping Chloe to her feet. "Clark? Are you sure you didn't hit yourself harder than you thought?"

Chloe blushed. "I'm fine… really. Now, let's try that again." She grabbed the staff, standing across from Buffy and getting into the beginning position.

Buffy just shrugged, making a note to not push as fast as they had been. "Alright. Let's take this one at half speed, ok?"

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Clark and Spike were out with Jonathan chopping down a fallen tree that had taken out one of the fences. Clark held off on using his powers, and it was taking them a while to get the job done. Clark and Spike had been lifting a section of the tree when Spike started complaining that Clark could uses those powers just a little bit. Clark lifted the section of the trunk effortlessly, and very quickly before Spike could let go. The result was one pissed off Englishman at the top of a six foot tree trunk. "Alright Farm Boy! Enough! Let me down! I really don't like wood, this is hard enough for me as it is!"

Jonathan tried to tell Clark to set Spike down, but he was laughing too hard. He had to lean against the truck. He hadn't even really thought about a former vampire handling different cuts of wood, and the irony struck him as soon as Spike started yelling about it.

Clark finally relented, setting Spike on the ground before tossing the wood into the trailer. He was just about to say something when he heard a loud grunt of pain back on the farm. He recognized that voice. "Chloe."

Clark had just pulled off his gloves and was about to run when he heard her voice again, very quietly. "I'm fine Clark, don't worry." Clark blushed, realizing she knew he'd probably already be on his way to check on her.

"Son, you ok?"

Looking back at his father, he stuttered. "Uh… yea. Yea dad, I'm fine."

"Well put the gloves back on son. We still have work to do."

Clark had just pulled his gloves back on when he was smacked hard in the back of the head. "OW! SPIKE!"

"Hey, just remember, I can actually hurt you. Do you want to be introduced to the wonderful world of wedgies?" He asked, pointing at Clark.

Clark sighed, shaking his head and chuckling. Spike turned to walk over to the last pieces of the tree when one of the branches he was grabbing at suddenly burst into flames. "Bloody hell!" He turned to look back at Clark, and pulled his gloves off. "Oh that's it, your ass is flossed." Tossing down the gloves he jumped at Clark, tackling him to the ground.

Jonathan leaned against the truck bed, shaking his head. "You two, knock it off!"

Spike and Clark quit scuffling, Spike on top of Clark's back trying to put the boy into a headlock.

"I used to wonder what it would have been like having more than one kid on this farm." He ran a hand through his hair. "And you two have pretty much lived up to what I thought. No more burning things, no more powers, no more wedgies, alright? Let's get this finished."

They both stood slowly, walking over to the remaining pieces of wood and loading them quickly. Clark nudged Spike, almost knocking him into the trailer, smirking as he walked off. "You little…"

Jonathan looked back to see them screwing around again. "Do I need to tell Martha not to bake the apple pie for desert tonight?"

Jonathan didn't have a problem with either young man for the rest of the afternoon.

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Lana was looking over several charts spread out on Lex's desk. They were checking the trajectory of the first meteor shower's UFO from satellite images so maybe they had some idea of where that thing came from. She sat back, rubbing her eyes, when she heard the large wooden doors open. Looking up, she saw her partner. "Lex, I thought you had a big meeting?"

Tossing his duster over the back of the sofa, he smiled. "I did, but something more important came up." He walked over to the desk and dropped a plastic bag onto it. "Take a look at these."

Opening the bag, Lana held several strips and torn shards of metal in her hands, covered in some strange glyphs she knew from somewhere. "Lex, what does this mean?"

"Those shards were found by an old woman out near Potter's field. She came out after the meteor shower, and they had embedded in her apple tree. She took them and placed them in a drawer, a strange memento of that day. These just came to my attention because she died several weeks ago, and her son had these appraised for the estate sale. I have people on the lookout for strange things like this." He sat on the desk sideways, leaning to face her.

"That's interesting Lex. But what are these markings?" She ran her fingers over them, unable to recall where she'd seen them but knowing she had.

Holding one finger up, Lex leaned over, moving the charts to grab a map. "Here is the trajectory of the UFO to the best of our knowledge." He traced a line that passed directly over Potter's Field. "So we can guess that something landed in that field that these…" he held up the shards, "could have come from. And these markings are the same markings that cover the walls of the Kawatche caves."

Lana's eyes opened wide. "That's where I had seen these markings." Her hand slapped over her mouth. "But those markings have been there for hundreds of years right? Oh my god, Lex! That means…"

Smiling, he nodded. "That means we just got an even greater lead. And I think I know how to find the secrets that lie within the caves." He stood, crossing to a bookshelf.

"How can we do that, Lex?"

He pulled a metallic box from behind several false books. Typing a number into the keypad, he lifted the lid with a hydraulic hiss. Walking back to the desk, he turned his hand over, opening it. A flat green octagon lay in his hand. "A little present from my father."

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Spike and Clark hopped out of the truck outside the hardware store. Jonathan had sent them into town to pick up supplies to fix the fence, and because he was tired of having them around all day if they were just going to horse around.

"Alright Spike, we need thirty yards of barb wire, fifteen yards of metal fencing, two six foot posts, and four 2x4's, eight feet in length each." Clark rattled off the list his dad gave him. "We have all the gloves and tin snips at the barn for handling the wire, so we don't need anymore of those."

They picked up the supplies and loaded them into the truck. Clark turned to ask Spike if he was ready to go, only to see that he had disappeared again. "Is it this annoying when I do it?" He walked back into the hardware store, finding Spike looking over the knives case. The clerk was handing Spike an "All-in-One" Multi-tool, the most expensive one in the case, going over all the bells and whistles that came with hit. "Spike, aren't you taking this whole 'Down on the farm' outlook a little too seriously?" Clark laughed, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"S'not for me. It's for your dad." Spike handed the man the money, declining a bag, and placed the tool and leather holder in his pocket.

"Spike, my dad isn't big on gifts, and he already has a multi-tool, he's had it for years."

"I know. I had to borrow it when I was fixing a drawer for your mum. The thing's worn out Clark, all the hinges are near breaking and half the tools fall out if you open them fully. I just want to give him something to thank him for… you know… everything." Spike looked up finally, and Clark could see the serious look in his eyes.

"Alright. In that case, I know he'd appreciate it." Clark and Spike walked outside to the truck, stopping at the sight of young mother passing them by with a baby stroller. Both men waved politely, letting her pass in front of them.

"Ya know, never gave much thought to children before. Not like I could really do anything 'bout it. But nowadays, I find myself imagining it a lot more frequently." Spike leaned against the side of the pick up, watching the mother bend down to fix the baby's blanket.

Clark reached in the truck bed to make sure the come-a-long straps were tight. "I think you'd be a good dad Spike. And you'd have an even better excuse not to act your age."

That earned Clark another smack to the back of the head. "Yea well, I just know I'd be there for my kids more than my dad was for me."

"Your dad wasn't around a lot?"

"He died when I was young."

Sighing, Clark leaned back against the truck himself. "What about your mom? Was she around?"

"Oh yea, my mum was the greatest woman on Earth, no offense to yours." Clark smiled, nodding to show he took none. "She was always there to listen to me, give me advice. Listen to my poems even though they were something horrible back then." He took out the multi-tool, fumbling with it in his hands, stalling. "She uh… she got sick with the consumption."

"Consumption?" Clark asked, not really knowing what he meant.

"Oh bugger, what do they call it now… uh… coughing, blood… uh…" Spike snapped his fingers. "Tubercular something."

Clark nodded. "Tuberculosis."

"That was it, yeah." Spike looked back down. "She was getting worse when I got sired, close to the end the doctors were saying." Clark heard his voice shake, and noticed he was blinking away a tear.

Clark sighed. "So, she died from that?"

"Nope. Someone got a hold of her, killed her in the worst way imaginable."

"Oh god Spike. I'm sorry. I hope you at least found the bastard." Clark's voice took an edge to it, but he couldn't imagine what he'd do if someone hurt Martha.

Spike chuckled, tossing the tool between his hands before putting it back in his pocket. "Didn't have to look too far." He looked up, meeting Clark's eyes. "It was me." With that, Spike turned, walking off towards an outdoor café, not wanting to see the look in his friend's eyes.

Clark stood, mouth wide open. "You?" He took off after Spike, catching him sitting down on a bench. "What… what do you mean it was you?"

Spike sighed. "Sit dow n."

Clark sat, never taking his eyes off of Spike. "After I was turned, I spent a couple nights livin' it up, experiencing all new things. When I finally came home, my mum was a nervous wreck. She started coughing again, and I saw the spots on the kerchief… I just couldn't let her go like that Clark, not when I could do something so that damn cough couldn't take her!" He slammed his fist on the table, then realizing they were outside, he looked around to make sure no one was listening. "So… I… I reached out to her, and I told her it was going to be ok… and then… then I…"

"You turned her." Clark finished for him.

Spike could only nod, unable to say anything else.

"Then what happened?"

Spike took a deep breath. "Then, she changed. She wasn't my mum anymore, she was this thing. She was nasty, vile. I couldn't see her like that, knowing I did that to her. She wasn't talking right, she wasn't acting like herself. The demon took hold. So, I had to save my mum. I staked her while she was tryin' to get me in the sack."

"Wow… Spike. That's… I don't really know what to say about that. I mean, I can't imagine…"

"I turned my mother into a monster, and then I killed her. Nothin' more to say about it."

"No Spike, you tried to save your mother. Regardless of what happened, you were trying to help her. Somewhere deep down, she had to know that."

Spike sat quietly, then let out a big breath. "Maybe you're right. Maybe she did know I was just trying to…" They were cut off by a loud scream.

"My baby! He took my little girl, my baby!" By the time Clark looked up to see the young mother they had seen earlier crying and pointing, Spike had already jumped over the café's small railing.

"Who took her? Where did he go?" Spike had his hands on the woman's shoulders, staring in her eyes. He followed her shaky hand, seeing an alley. Listening, he heard the scuffle of feet going very fast. "I'll get her, I promise!" And with that, Spike was running. He wasted no time making up ground, jumping over a car that was parked in his way.

Clark took off at normal speed, not wanting to give up his secret in the open. He finally caught up to Spike when he turned a third corner. Spike was standing, arms up, facing the man holding the child. The man was middle aged, dark hair, dressed in casual clothes with dark tones.

"Look mate. You don't wanna do this. Gimme the kid and just go."

The man pulled a pistol out of his coat. "I don't think so." His words flowed calmly.

Spike's hands balled into fists. "I swear if you hurt that kid you're gonna wish you used that gun on yourself by the time I'm done with you."

The man smiled smugly. "Who said anything about hurting the kid?" Before anyone could move, a shot rang out loudly through the alleyway, and the man tossed the crying bundle up into the air. Clark moved quickly, but he saw Spike already moving.

By the time Spike caught the child, the man was already around a corner. "I'll get him," Clark said, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. Looking back, he saw Spike staring at the child. "Spike? What's wrong, is she hurt?"

Spike shook his head. "Take her."

"Spike, I've gotta go grab that guy!"

"CLARK! TAKE THE BABY!" Spike began to fall as soon as he had said it.

Clark grabbed the child in one arm, then looked down at Spike, hunched over on his knees. "Spike? Spike what is it?"

Looking up, Spike's eyes had gone glassy. "Son of a bitch. That hurts more than it used…to…" Spike fell to his side on the concrete, and Clark finally saw what had happened.

Spike's shirt was soaked in red blood, his hands covered too. The bullet wound in his abdomen was visible, and blood was still flowing. "SPIKE!"


	6. Chapter 6

Sort of a slow chapter. Hope you guys enjoy, and thanks for all the great reviews. Usual disclaimers apply.

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Clark was pacing back and forth in the hallway of Smallville Medical Center, staring at the blood on his shirt. Looking over, he saw the young mother and her daughter sitting across the hall. The woman hadn't let the girl go since she had gotten her back. After they were brought here, the baby was checked out, and she was doing just fine. The woman was sticking around to see how Spike was.

Clark sat down several seats away, putting his face in his hands. He looked up when someone touched his shoulder. "I… I know this won't come near what I owe you both, but thank you so much."

Clark smiled slightly. "You don't owe me anything, and I know Spike would say the same. He'd rather be there than walking around knowing he didn't even try to help."

"I just… I don't know what I'd do if I lost my little girl." She looked at her daughter, eyes welling up again.

Clark just smiled at the obvious bond. "What's her name?"

The woman looked up. "This little lady is named Natasha. Natty for short." She suddenly looked up. "And I'm Jane. I just realized I hadn't introduced myself, I just… got caught up in everything."

"It's fine," Clark said chuckling.

"Do you want to hold her?" Jane asked, motioning to the little girl.

"Oh... I… I don't have a lot of experience with babies. A little, but not much."

"It's fine. Just hold your arms out." He did as she said, and she placed the little bundle in his arms, one hand cradling her head. "There you go. See? You're a natural." Jane smiled.

Clark was so engrossed that he didn't notice his parents and the girls come rushing down the hallway. "Clark? CLARK! Where's Spike?"

Looking up quickly, he saw Buffy, her face twisted in fright. "Buffy, hey… one second." He turned to Jane, handing the baby back over. "He's fine, alright? They have him in surgery right now, and…"

"SURGERY!" Buffy's eyes went wide, her lips trembling. Chloe came up behind her, putting her arm around Buffy's shoulders.

"Come on sweety, sit down." She guided Buffy to a chair, and sat with her.

"Son, what happened?" Jonathan came over, putting his hand on Clark's shoulder. He saw the red stains on his shirt, but didn't bring them up right away.

"Spike and I had just gotten the supplies, and we were talking outside a restaurant… then we heard Jane scream, and…"

Chloe broke in. "Who's Jane?"

Clark looked back, motioning to the woman. She stood. "That's me."

"Someone had grabbed her daughter, Natasha. Spike was running before I even figured out what was going on, and by the time I caught up the guy had stopped and was facing them. He pulled a gun, Spike said something, I can't remember what… and then I just heard a shot, and the guy threw Natasha through the air." He looked over, realizing Jane hadn't heard all of this before. "He caught her, she didn't fall, I can swear that to you."

Jane simply nodded, blinking back tears.

He turned back to the others. "I was about to chase the guy, and Spike stopped me. He told me to take the baby, and then he fell… he was shot in the stomach."

Buffy pulled her hands against her face, rocking in her chair. Clark knelt down and took her hand, whispering. "Buffy. He'll be fine. You know he's not completely human, he's more now." She only nodded, wiping her eyes.

They were interrupted by a deputy clearing his throat. "Clark Kent, why am I not surprised?"

"Now hold on just a second deputy, my son didn't have anything to do with what happened today and if you're going to go around…" Jonathan started in on the officer.

"Mr. Kent, I didn't mean anything by that. I just meant I'm not surprised Clark was around a rescue. He always finds a way to get involved." The deputy held his hands up. "We just have to ask a few follow up questions. Clark, the EMTs and doctor said that the victim's wound looked like it had been cauterized. How would that have happened?"

Clark looked around, trying to think up an excuse besides "_Well, I used my heat vision and burned it shut!_" when he felt something slip into his hand from behind. Holding it up, he saw a silver Zippo lighter. "Uh, this fell out of Spike's pocket. He was bleeding, and I was tryin to stop it. I remembered something about heat closes a wound, so I tried that."

The deputy nodded, then wrote something in his notepad. "Can you remember anything else about the assailant? Anything he said, dropped, any mannerisms he might have?"

"No, nothing besides what I've already told the police. If I remember anything else, I'll be sure to tell you."

The deputy closed his pad and shook Clark's hand. "Keep it up." The group watched him walking off, then Clark turned back to them.

"Where did this come from?" he asked, holding the lighter up.

Buffy stepped up, taking it back. "It's Spike's."

Chloe looked at her. "But, I thought he was using that black lighter back in Sunnydale?"

Buffy rubbed the lighter in her hands. "This was his a year or so ago. He left it at my house a lot of times. One night I found it before he did, and I held onto it. He thought he lost it in a cemetery somewhere."

Martha moved over and pulled Buffy into a hug. The small blonde put her face into Mrs. Kent's shoulder and started to cry. "He'll be fine sweety. You know he'll pull through this. He's too stubborn not to." Buffy sobbed out a choked laugh.

"Buffy?" She looked up to see Jane standing there. "I know I'm probably the last one you want to hear from right now, but I just… I can't ever repay what I owe him, he saved my daughter. And I just wanted to say that. He's a hero."

Buffy nodded, wiping her eyes. "Yeah, he is. Is this…?" She motioned to the girl in Jane's arms.

"This is Natasha." She held her up. The women flocked around the giggling little bundle. Clark and his dad stepped back, taking a seat.

"That's amazing. One little girl can take away all the pain right now."

Jonathan patted his back. "I remember those days. I'd come in, worn out from working, didn't know if I could even make it up the stairs. Then you came in and wanted to play checkers or go outside and play catch. I always got back up off that couch. Kids have a strange affect on you." Jonathan noticed Clark looking elsewhere now and followed his gaze to Chloe. He couldn't help but smile. "Maybe that's in your future sometime, eh?"

Clark sat up quickly. "Uh… What? I mean… no… not…" He ran a hand through his hair. "I haven't really thought about that before dad. I have no idea if I can even have…" He got quiet suddenly.

Jonathan leaned forward. "Son, that's the kind of thing you deal with whenever you get to it. Your mother and I were never able to have children, and we still got you. Even if you have to adopt, I know someday you'll get to experience all the great things I have as a father. Except maybe without all the extra 'perks' like the fact your kid can lift a truck and run way faster than you."

Clark chuckled.

Just then a nurse came through the doors. "Mr. Kent?"

Clark stood, quickly followed by the others. "That's me. What's going on, is Spike ok?"

"He's fine. We managed to get the bullet out and stitch up the damage it did. Luckily it missed his spine and major organs, just a slight tear in the stomach lining. He's going to be tender for a while, but he will fully recover in several weeks." She opened the file. "We do need his information though, we don't even have his full name."

Clark looked back at Buffy. She stepped up to the nurse. "William Pratt. I don't have any of his other paperwork right now, it's all back at home. We rushed here as soon as Clark called us."

"That's understandable. But we do need that as soon as we can get it from you. We'll let you know if anything changes." She patted Buffy's arm and then walked off towards the nurse's station.

Buffy turned to Chloe. "I need your cell." She took it and dialed in a number quickly. "Willow? I need a huge favor. I need papers for Spike, driver's license, birth certificate, credit cards… is there anyway you or Giles can do that? Thank you so much. How long? That's great. I'll be at the Kent's farm, can you trans it there? Thanks so much Wils, I'll explain it later." She hung up handing Chloe the phone. "It'll be ready in an hour, and she'll send it to your house."

Martha looked confused. "How can she ship a package from California to Kansas that quickly?"

Buffy looked around, making sure Jane wasn't close enough to hear. She saw her sitting with the guys, Jonathan now making faces at the little girl. "Willow is a… a Wiccan. She's a witch. She can do stuff like that." She waited for the usual reaction she got when she told people her friend was a witch.

"Oh… well, that's helpful." Was all Martha had to say.

Buffy stood with her mouth slightly open, then turned to Chloe. "Is she really the coolest mom ever or is it just me?"

"She is." Chloe agreed.

They sat in the waiting room, everyone doting over little Natasha. Jane said she wasn't leaving until she could thank Spike herself, and they all welcomed her to stay. Clark was making googly faces at the baby now, and Buffy kept nudging Chloe and grinning… leading to Chloe pinching her when she kept doing it.

Chloe's cell phone rang again and after looking at Caller ID, she handed it to Buffy. "California area code."

Buffy grabbed for it quickly. "Hello? Wils? Oh thank you so much. Yes, I'll go get it right now." She was already up and heading for the door when Clark stopped her. "Oh yea, Clark could do it a lot faster. Thank you."

With that, Clark walked down a back hallway and took off once he was out of sight.

"What's that Willow? Oh… why did I need all this…? Spike had an emergency. No, he'll be fine, he's out of surgery."

Everyone else heard the loud reaction that got from her friend over the phone. "Willow, he'll be fine. Someone snatched a baby and Spike ran after them, and he got shot. Yes, the baby is safe, she's right here with us waiting to see how he is. Yes Willow, I will tell the baby you said hey…" Everyone laughed as she rolled her eyes. Suddenly there was a low whooshing sound. She turned to see Clark standing there with a manila envelope. "Ok, we have the packet, thank you so much Willow!" She hung up, taking the folder from Clark.

"What did she draw up?" Chloe asked.

Pouring the contents out onto the table, they all stared at the wide variety of IDs. Buffy picked up his birth certificate first off, it even looked like a faded copy, folded and filed away. Chloe handed her his driver's license, and Buffy had to laugh when she saw the look on his face in the picture. There were also assorted credit cards, a movie rental card, ticket stubs from movies he had been to… all the sort of thing you would find in a cluttered wallet. They all looked up at Clark when he burst into laughter. He grinned, holding up Spike's "Blood Donor" card. Buffy lost it, holding her hand over her mouth so she wasn't laughing too loud in the waiting room.

Buffy gathered the birth certificate and license and headed towards the nurse's station. The rest sat back, waiting for more news on Spike.

A half hour later, the same nurse came back. "Well, he's coming around from the anesthesia, would you like to go see him?" Buffy jumped up quickly, followed by Martha, Chloe, Clark and Jane. "Whoa now, I can only allow two in at a time. Who's going first?"

Clark turned to Buffy. "Go ahead, he's anxious to see you."

"No, you and Jane go back first. I'm not ready..." She was wringing her hands, pacing back and forth.

Clark just nodded, and he and Jane followed the nurse back through the doors into ICU. "How is he doing?" Clark asked the nurse.

"He's doing just fine. It's the strangest thing, his body is almost willing itself to heal it seems. The surgeon swears some of the bruising he saw along the internal organs had disappeared by the time he finished with the surgery."

Clark just nodded, knowing what was really going on. No reason to let the nurse in on that little factoid, though.

She stopped at a door and pushed it open, motioning for them to walk through. Clark ushered Jane in first, following closely.

He was prepared to see his friend groggy, or irritable, or so drugged he didn't even know where he was. But he didn't expect Spike to be almost fully awake and cursing about the lack of good shows on the TV around here. "Can't even find bloody _Passions_ on this crap cable."

Clark cleared his throat and Spike looked up suddenly. "Hey Farm Boy." His voice sounded tired, his throat dry. "Bring me some company did ya?"

Jane walked up closer to the bed, cuddling the little bundle close to her. "Mr. Pratt, I just wanted to say thank you so much for saving my daughter. I don't even know how to repay you."

Spike looked down and saw the little girl from the alley. "Is she ok? She didn't get hurt did she?"

"No, they checked her out when we got here. She's just fine." Jane smiled at him, and Spike's expression softened.

"You don't owe me anything. I'm just glad we could help." He scooted up the bed further, wincing at the pain in his stomach. Clark looked and saw the bandages over his abdomen, a red spot in the center. "You didn't have to stick around for… how long have I been in here?"

"Around six hours." Clark said, pointing to the clock.

"Bloody Heeeeeeeeeeck…" Spike said, realizing the baby was still in the room. "I missed your mom's pot pie?"

Clark just chuckled. "We'll bring you leftovers."

"Well, I can still make it to supper." Spike swung his legs over the edge, and then stood quickly… falling back onto the bed with a hand over his forehead. "Whoooooa. That was fun."

"You're not going anywhere Spike. Not until you're cleared. And the nurse said it looks like you're healing quickly," Clark smirked when he told him this.

Jane moved closer to the bed. "Would you like to hold her? I know she wants to meet her hero."

Spike looked nervous. "Uh, not sure if that's a great idea. I'm not so good with kids."

"You held her a little while ago Spike." Clark added.

"That was different. Not much I could have done wrong in that situation."

Jane smiled, then handed Natasha over slowly. Spike accepted her, his back stiff as a board, eyes wide. When she had settled in, he just looked down at the bundle in his arms, then at Jane and Clark. "What do I do now?"

"Just hold her Spike." Clark sat on the bed next to him looking over at the baby.

Natasha looked up towards Spike… and giggled. He never stood a chance.

"Did you see that? She smiled, she smiled at me." Spike's face was lit up in a grin.

A few minutes later Clark walked out of the room, heading back into the waiting area. Buffy looked up, confused. "Clark? Where's Jane?"

"The baby grinned at him and he won't let her go."

Martha smiled at that. Buffy just looked nervous. Chloe bumped her with her shoulder and received a pinch for it.

Chloe went back… then Martha… then Jonathan. Jonathan and Jane came back from the room and Natasha was giggling. Buffy was the only one who hadn't seen him, and she moved slowly towards the doors. She stood in the doorway to his room silently, watching him. He looked like he was asleep and she didn't want to wake him, so she had just turned towards the hall when…

"Thought you knew how to be stealthier, Slayer."

Buffy jumped, almost slipping on the floor when she landed. "Spike!" A nurse shushed her from down the hallway, and she moved further into the room. "William the Bloody Pratt, don't do that to me!" she said in a loud whisper.

Spike could only chuckle, reaching his hand out to her. Buffy walked to him, her hand slipping into his as she leaned over to hug him. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"I had to luv."

She just nodded. "I know, but that doesn't mean it was easy to deal with hearing that you were in surgery for getting shot." Her eyes shimmered, tears threatening to fall.

"I know luv. I know." He squeezed her hand, then pulled her in for a soft kiss, ignoring the pain in his stomach as he did.

Buffy suddenly stood up. "Where's your wallet?"

Looking confused, he just shrugged. "Notta damn clue. Maybe in here somewhere."

Buffy walked around, going through the drawers and closets until she found it. "Aha! Got a few things for you, courtesy of Willow." She sat back down next to him, her feet tucked under her, and put the envelope on the bed. She started tucking various cards into his wallet, including his driver's license, social security card, movie rental cards, and credit cards.

"What is all this stuff?" he asked.

"They needed your papers, I asked Willow to help. This is all of your stuff, your history. She said all the papers will pass fully cleared if investigated."

Spike just shook his head. "Remind me to send Red a thank you card."

Buffy looked over, one eyebrow raised with a very "Spike-esque" smirk on her face. "Did Spike, one quarter of the scourge of Europe, just say he had to send someone a thank you card?"

"Ah damn. I guess I did. Kent's are havin' a bad influence on me I guess."

She just smiled, then leaned in, kissing him deeply. "I think it's cute."

Spike smiled, nibbling his lower lip slightly. "Well, if you think it's cute I'll just have to keep it up, eh?" He pulled her onto the bed, kissing her deeply now. His lips moved to her neck, blunt teeth nibbling over the soft skin. He felt her shiver and heard a gasp, leading him to lick softly over the spot on her throat he just bit. His hands sliding down her body, he cupped her tight buns… then reached into her pocket quickly. "Buffy, what the…" He pulled his silver Zippo out of her back pocket, eyeing it and her warily. "Where did you get this?"

Buffy blushed and couldn't look him in the eye. "I… I kept it when you left it at the house the fifth or sixth time. I don't know why. I just… I wanted to keep something of yours."

"But… that was when we were just, uh, using each other, wasn't it? I thought there was nothing there?" He couldn't even look her in the eye, remembering those times.

"There was. I was just too stubborn to admit to it at all. You were there for me, and I used you Spike."

He gave a dry, humorless chuckle. "Pretty sure I did a bit of using as well, pet."

"At least you were honest about what you felt."

Spike looked over, seeing her eyes dancing under the closed lids. "I'm sorry luv. I shouldn't have even said anything, just made your life that much harder."

She curled against him on the bed. "I'm glad you did. You made me grow up Spike. You made me see I wasn't so innocent in a lot of things. It takes two to tango. Or to bring a three bed/two bath brownstone down around our heads." She bit her lower lip, smiling at him.

"No fair, I get to nibble that lip," he said, leaning over quickly and kissing her.

The nurse that came to tell her visiting hours were over just turned on her heels, deciding to let them have a little bit more time alone.

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Lex sat in his study, going through the files he received from his contacts searching into Spike's past. The phone rang, breaking his concentration. "Yes?"

"Mr. Luthor. I'm down here at the ICU and I just ran across the target's file. He is recovering quickly, the doctors almost don't understand it."

"That is quite interesting. Keep me posted." Shutting the cell phone, Lex looked over the file again. Apparently, there was almost nothing to be found about this "Spike" person or any other name he might have gone by.

His phone ringing again brought him out of it. "Yes?"

"Uh, Mr. Luthor, this is Jackson. About that guy you wanted Intel on? Spike?"

"Yes, I am frankly upset with how little you were able to give me Jackson."

"Well Mr. Luthor, that's the thing. Since I sent that, it's like the world just recognized this guy existed. In the past six hours literally, I've found everything from a birth certificate down to video store accounts."

Lex sat up. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know sir, but there was nothing on him earlier today. Now I could track what books he took out of the library in second grade." Jackson was sweating on his end of the phone, knowing what happens when a Luthor is displeased with your work.

"Jackson, if you find anything else, I want to know IMMEDIATELY!" Lex lost his composure momentarily, instantly regretting showing a weakness to an underling.

"Actually sir, there is one thing I thought you might find interesting."

"Send it."

Lex sat at his laptop awaiting the transfer. The file uploaded, showing a side by side view of a security camera shot from the Metropolis Mall showing Spike standing outside of a store, and another much older picture, almost 19th century it seemed. There were two men and two women facing the ancient camera. It was hard to see at first, but when he blew it up, the shorter man looked incredibly similar to… Spike?

"This is very interesting. Find me more Jackson." He hung up without listening to the man's boring affirmatives. "It seems there might be much more to this than I thought."

He stood, walking to his bookshelf near the desk and pulled down a worn book of Dickenson poetry, one of his mother's favorites. Opening it, he carefully handled a photograph, almost perfectly crisp and straight as if it hadn't seen the light of day.

"What have you gotten yourself involved in my friend?" He sighed, staring at the photo of himself and his best man from his first wedding that hot summer's evening several years ago.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry It's taken me a couple of years. I lost my muse when I changed my major and it took me a long time to get back into things. But I'm back baby! I only hope I haven't lost everyone and that this story is still relevant after all the changes taking place in the real Smallville. I hope you all enjoy. Still don't own anything. And a special thank you to Dance Shop Snark. She kept badgering me over time. I only hope she hasn't given up on me by now. This is kind of short, but I hope it brings you back in.

"I'm fine so you can drop the bloody 'Florence Nightingale' act, ok luv?" Spike huffed, tossing his ruined shirt over the back of the couch as he dropped down with a groan.

Buffy perked up at the noise. "There! What was that noise? You don't usually make that noise!" Hurrying over, she pulled his shirt up. "Did a stitch pop out? Are you hurting?"

Pushing her away, and trying to stifle the small laugh at the ticklish feeling he just had, Spike groaned again. "I'm fine. I'm just a bit sore, ok? I did get shot, and even if these powers helped me heal right up, there's still gonna be some pain. I've learned that the damn hard way." He winced, groaning again from the slap upside the back of his head. "What was that for?!"

Buffy glared down at him. "I told you to watch your mouth in Mrs. Kent's house!" she warned with a harsh whisper.

"It's ok sweety," their current adoptive maternal figure stated as she walked in. "Spike's had a really hard few days. One or two slips won't harm anything." Martha placed a small bag down on the counter, holding Spike's file and record from his visit to the hospital. They had thought it best for it not to hang around too long, especially since Lex had met the formerly bleached wonder.

"Ha ha. You see luv? She's fine if I verbalize my pain with the occasion hell or damn." Spike smirked at Buffy, glowing in the fact he won this round.

Martha turned. "Unless of course he abuses it, then I just won't make anymore peach pies."

Buffy had to turn away to hide the smile as she heard the repeated grunts and sounds of disbelief come out of Spike's mouth. Then she heard a simple "yes ma'am" and saw Spike pouting. She went to give him a hug when he stood up quickly, heading for the door. "Where are you going?"

"Out to the barn to see how Clark and Mr. Kent are doing. Haven't had me around to keep things ship shape for a few days." He winked at Buffy before opening the door. A hand on his arm stopped him, as he turned to see Martha. "Now you be careful out there. Don't overdo anything, understand?" He simply nodded before walking outside toward the red barn.

Clark didn't turn around as Spike snuck up behind him. As Spike went to wrap an arm around Clark's neck to put a sleeper on, he suddenly found himself several feet off the ground, being held up by the back of his jeans. "WHOA! Let me down farm boy!"

Clark merely grinned, but didn't release his friend. Not until a familiar voice rang out through the barn. "Clark Joseph Kent! You put him down right now, he just got out of the hospital!" Clark set Spike down with a frown.

"Come on dad! He tried to get me first!"

"I don't want to hear it. You should know better. He could have pulled a stitch out of place." Jonathan walked back into the tool area, getting the right wrench to fix a plug in the tractor he was working on. Clark glared at Spike, getting one of the trademark smirks in return. He tossed Spike a pair of gloves and the two started carrying hay from the pile to the loft to feed the animals. Everything soon slipped back into a normal pace, the boys outside working hard and the women inside telling embarrassing stories about their boys.

Lex stood behind his desk, staring at several schematics and stacks of photos littering the glass top. He glanced up as the door opened, seeing Lana walk through. "Well, how did you sleep? Good I hope. I'd hate it to get out that I am a less than fair host."

Smiling, Lana walked over, leaning on the desk. "Very well, thank you." Her smile was cut off by the photos on Lex's desk. "Are these… do these have something to do with that key you showed me? And the metallic shards?"

Lex grinned. "Yes, they do. And I think I've found a place where we can get some answers with the key. I believe you're familiar with the Kawatche caves?"

Lana's mouth dropped open. "Oh my god, Lex! The caves again? Those have been at the center of almost every strange thing that's happened around here… Isabella, the excavation, Clark's disappearance. What do they have that can help us?"

Standing, Lex walked around the desk, his hands sliding up Lana's arms. "There is a hole in the wall of one of the caves the exact shape and size of the green key my father had commissioned. When we place that key in the wall, we will get our answers… our answers to everything that has troubled us for years. But Lana, I have to warn you. I believe that someone we both called a friend at one time is going to be found in the middle of all of this."

Lana looked at him quizzically… and then an understanding look crossed her face. "You mean Clark. This might tell us what he has been hiding for all of these years." Lex simply nodded. Lana thought about it for a bit… then a devious grin crossed her face. "Good. After all he's put me through, I deserve to know what he kept from me. It's time for Clark to answer for his mistrust."

Lex could only grin broadly. "That he will. And when he does, we will be the first to make him atone for his sins." Lex brushed his fingers over Lana's cheek softly, stroking the silky skin of her face. "And then you and I will make our mark on this town, and on history."

Lana stood slowly and brushed her lips across Lex's. "Thank you for helping me Lex. Thank you for being here for me when all of my friends have left me alone and hurting."

Lex could only grin even wider. "I will always be here for you my love. And I will make him pay for hurting you."

The flickering embers of the fireplace were the only witness to the carnal debauchery that took place on Lex Luthor's sofa that night.


	8. Chapter 8

I got a lot of inspiration this afternoon and started to hammer this out. Hopefully this will whet your appetites a little more. Once again, I don't own anything.

Chap 8

Clark was walking around the kitchen in the early hours of the morning. He tried to be quiet but there was only so much that a farm boy his size could do in the way of stealth. After the third time he nudged the stool at the counter, Spike got up and walked over, yanking the fridge door open and standing in front of it. "What are you lookin' for, between the two of us we can find it quicker than this is taking…"

Clark just grinned. "I was hungry. I was just looking for leftovers from the meatloaf tonight."

Spike chuckled. "You're gonna have to turn on that x-ray vision of yours to do that. I polished it off while you were in the shower." Turning, he grabbed the milk and walked over to leftover pie in Mrs. Kent's pie dish. Pulling out a fork he sat to dig in when he felt another pop upside his head. "Dammit farm boy, I'm tired of getting hit in the back of my…" Spike turned in time to see Martha Kent with her arms crossed in her robe, Clark standing behind her holding a laugh back with his hand. "Ummm… Hey Mrs. Kent. Sorry about that. I thought it was… um… him…" Spike could only look down at the counter, having the good grace to feel a little ashamed at cussing in front of the woman of the house.

Martha walked to the kitchen cupboard without saying a word. Reaching in, she came back to where Spike was sitting. Picking up the milk, she poured it in the glass and handed it to him, wiggling the glass a little bit to make sure he got it. "I have to tell Clark daily to use a glass. If I have to do it with you too, I'm going to just start popping you in the back of the head." She turned towards the stairs again.

Spike looked at her, then Clark. "But why doesn't he get hit?"

Martha didn't even look over her shoulder. "The only time I spanked Clark he was five years old and I almost broke my hand. He gets the serious 'Mom is disappointed' look, you get hit." With that she disappeared around the corner at the top landing.

Clark walked over and took the bottle of milk from the table. Winking at Spike, he took a big gulp straight from the bottle, almost spitting it out at the incredulous look on Spike's face. "What, are you gonna tell on me?"

Spike growled, jumping at Clark. The two scuffled for a while, wrestling around… then Spike found what he was looking for. Clark let out a loud yelp when he felt his boxers yanked, and tried to flip Spike off of him. The two only came to a stop when there was the loud sound of a throat clearing. They both turned to the stairs to find a tired Jonathan Kent staring through half lidded eyes. "If I or your mother has to come down here again tonight, you're both sleeping in the barn. Understand me?" He stared at both young men until they nodded in understanding… and stayed there until they got out of their scuffle. Both looked at the floor sheepishly at being caught. Jonathan turned to head back to bed, muttering, "I'm getting to old for this… I didn't ask for another kid right now… I'm going to have to hurt one of them, I swear I am. Need to act their age."

Walking back to the kitchen, Spike nudged Clark as he was trying to pull his boxers out of his butt. Clark pushed Spike back. Spike returned the gesture, and eventually they were back on the ground in another tussle, both trying to administer a major wedgie, when Jonathan's voice boomed out. "OUT TO THE BARN, RIGHT NOW!"

Chloe was on her way out to see Clark the next morning to tell him to come in for breakfast. Mr. Kent had shared the details of his and Mrs. Kent's trouble with the boys last night. She giggled thinking of the two guys wrestling around like kids, but her giggling stopped when she looked up at the loft only to find both of them holding a board up as Clark nailed it into place where the handrail had originally been. "What the heck did you two do last night?"

Clark blushed, but Spike was more than happy to speak up. "We had a game of rock, paper, scissors to see who got to sleep on the couch. Clark lost." He hammered in a few nails to secure the board in place and reached for another one.

Chloe came up to Clark, laying a hand on his arm. "How did this happen if you were playing rock, paper, scissors Clark?"

Clark just shook his head. "Don't ask. Just… don't ask."

Shaking her head, she walked downstairs. "Alright, but breakfast is ready. Your mom made omelet…" A sudden whooshing sound ran past her, and she looked up to see the railing was complete, and Spike looking bewildered. Chloe could only snicker. "Are you coming before he eats it all?" The response was Spike jumping down from the loft and racing into the house, yelling at Clark with strategically camouflaged profanity so as not to earn another smack upside the head. Chloe could only sigh, finally realizing what it would have been like if Clark had a brother growing up. No one could say it wouldn't have been interesting.

Lex pulled his Mercedes into the grassy field outside the entrance to the Kawatche caves. It had been only months ago that he head been here himself, trying to find out what was going on with Clark. Now he was so close to finally finding the answers he wanted. Nothing would stand in his way.

"Are you sure this will work, Lex?" Her soft voice came from behind him. Lana stepped up behind him, her arm slipping around his as she leaned in, laying her head on his shoulder.

Brushing her hair back, Lex smiled. "Of course it will. Nothing will stop us now." He moved toward the entrance of the cave, pulling a flashlight from one pocket, making sure his pistol was still secured to his belt. He knew better than to go around these caves without some form of protection. Making sure that everything was clear, he motioned for Lana to join him. Holding her hand, he walked to the wall where he remembered the hole for the key was, feeling his way around. Letting go of Lana, he reached into his inner pocket, pulling the green disc from inside his coat. Holding it up, the wall seemed to pulse, almost throbbing like a wound. The closer he held the key, the more it shimmered, green cracks forming and spilling light out into the room. Finally, Lex found the slot for the key, a maniacal look of glee crossing his face. "There it is."

Lana stared in awe. "Do it Lex. We deserve this. We deserve the truth."

Not looking away, Lex pushed the key toward the slot… finding himself almost pushed away from the wall. Pushing harder, he was met with a greater repulsion. Pushing both hands onto the key, he put all his strength into merging the green key with the dark rock… and he succeeded. The wall emitted a burst of green energy, sending both Lex and Lana to the opposite wall, cracking them hard into the rock surface. Lex grabbed the back of his head, feeling blood pulsing out… then it was gone. He ran his hand over the skin, but no wound was to be found. He looked to Lana only to see her smiling… a wide ruthless grin.

Lex stood, feeling powerful… feeling… mighty. Turning around, he thrust his hand against the wall, smirking when the rock crumbled under his fist. Looking to see if Lana had noticed, he found her crushing the steel flashlight with one hand, a smile crossing her own features. She pulled the bandage from her formerly hurt hand, flexing it. Both could only smile at the other as they realized what had happened to them… before a blinding green light shot through both of them, out of the roof of the cavern.

Martha and Jonathan were both hiding smiles as they listened to the enhanced rules of the rock, paper, scissors game that Clark and Spike had played. Jonathan was about to admonish the boys when he noticed a strange look on Clark's face. Spike picked up on it as well, walking over to him, snapping his fingers in front of his face. "Farm boy… hello… anyone home?"

Clark looked around the table suddenly. "Something's not right. I just have this… feeling."

Before anyone else could reply, a loud explosion rocked the house from outside, rattling the dishes in the cupboard. Clark and Spike were the first to the door, looking at the ruined remains of the old red farm truck. Perking his ears, Clark had barely enough time to turn to the room, shouting "MOVE!" before Chloe's car came crashing through the side of the living room, rolling through and out the other side, taking both walls with it. Clark and Spike were pulling people out of the remains of the kitchen table and the living room sofa when they heard a low chuckle. Turning, Clark saw Lex floating in the kitchen door. "Lex? What are you doing here?! What's happened to you?"

Lex landed on his feet, black duster floating behind him. Walking up to the young man he once called his friend, a sinister smirk split his features once more. "Greeting's Kal-El."

Clark's eyes went wide. "Lex… how do you know that name?"

Lex didn't reply. He looked over past Clark, seeing Spike pull Buffy out of the remains of the table. Focusing his eyes, he grinned as Spike's shirt burst into flames, bringing a fresh batch of profane offerings from the former bloodsucker's mouth as he threw the shirt aside, batting at the skin where it had burnt him slightly. Clark looked to where the shirt had landed, on the rubble atop his mother. Jonathan's leg was pinned under what was left of the countertop, as he tried to crawl to his wife of so many years. Clark rushed to help them, exchanging a glance with Spike.

Spike leapt at Lex growling… only to be batted aside with ease, taking out what was left of the window in the living room. Buffy leapt at Lex, but he caught her, holding her pinned under his arm as she yelled for Spike, trying to see if he was ok.

Chloe stood, preparing to rush Lex but was stopped suddenly by a well manicured hand around her throat. Turning her eyes, she saw Lana, dressed similarly to Lex, smiling just as deviously. "L-Lana…. What….?" Lana head butted Chloe, knocking the blonde unconscious, dragging her limp body by the neck as she walked to Lex.

"Kal-El!" Lex roared, making Clark turn to face him. "After the years of distrust, you will learn true pain finally. It all starts over here." With that, the two black clad attackers flew out of the house, carrying the slayers with them, Buffy still screaming for Spike. Clark ran to the porch to see where they had gone, but it was too late. They were out of sight. Scanning the yard he found Spike… pinned against a tree with a piece of the window sill lodged through his left shoulder, blood pouring out. Rushing over, he pulled the wood from Spike, holding the screaming man up as he clamped a hand over the wound.

"LET ME GO! HE'S GOT BUFFY!" Spike clawed at Clark's arm, trying to get out of his grip, staring at the spot where the attackers had disappeared from.

"Spike listen to me! It's no use, they're gone. We have to think this out. Come on Spike, stop!" Clark finally bear hugged Spike, holding him pinned. Spike kept trying to get free, tears coming from his eyes. "He's got her. I can't let him hurt her, I swore to her!"

Martha and Jonathan had come outside, Martha having to help Jonathan make it over to the boys. Clark released him finally and Spike hit his knees, despair sinking in. Martha knelt, her arm around Spike as she checked his newest wound. Clark turned to look at the house, seeing devastation left in the wake of this latest attack. Feeling despair well up… realizing that Lex had come for him, his family... and that he had dispatched all of them so easily… he choked back a sob.

Jonathan turned, grabbing Clark for support, pulling on his shirt. "Clark. You can't go at them alone. We don't know what happened to make them this way."

Not turning to see his father, Clark spoke softly. "This is all my fault. If not for me none of this would be happening. Lex wouldn't be obsessed with our family, Lana wouldn't be involved… Chloe and Buffy would be…"

"They'd be dead!"

Clark turned to see Spike standing once again, his chest rising rapidly as he took gulps of air. "They would both be dead right now if not for you. And so would I. Chloe would have been killed long ago, or at least in that hallway when the Bringers were sent for her. Buffy would be dead in the bottom of the Hellmouth, and I'd be burnt to a crisp. So don't pull this martyr shit on me!"

Clark couldn't look the man in the eye, only staring down at the ground. "No. I've been the cause of all of this. The meteors, the people around here who have been changed… it's my fault Spike, it's because…" He was stopped by a hard punch to the side of the temple. Martha and Jonathan gasped, seeing their son knocked to his knees by the man they had brought into their home.

Spike knelt down next to Clark, his voice low and threatening. "Get off your knees. Get up. We've got to find them."

Clark's hands clenched at the dirt on the ground. "I can't Spike. I can't beat two of them. Lex knows all my secrets now, he can fly, he can…" Another punch rocked Clark, sending him down face down on the ground. He pushed up slightly, spitting blood onto the dirt.

"Get your ass up Farmboy. Now!"

Clark stared up, fear in his eyes. "I can't do it! I barely beat the last Kryptonian who I faced, I can't beat Lex and Lana. They know all about me, they're…" His words became choked as Spike lifted him off the ground with his good right arm by the throat. Clark gasped for a few moments before he was released.

Spike stepped up into his face, seething. "You faced off against the oldest known vampires in the mouth of Hell itself. You knocked the First Evil flat on its ass. You saved the world, again. And you're telling me that you're going to let some preppy girl bitch and that money bloated bastard hurt the woman you swore you loved with ever fiber of your being?" Clark couldn't look up at him. "Then I'm ashamed to have called you a friend." Spike pulled his arm back once more, aiming right for Clark's face… and felt at least two knuckles crack when his fist collided with the rock solid hand of the farmer.

Clark stared back into his eyes, standing to his full height. "Don't… do that… again. Or I'll kick your ass after I'm done with Lex."

Spike let a smirk crack his face. "There you are. Started to get worried we had lost you."

Clark smiled himself. "Thanks for that. Now we have to get going." Clark turned to walk back to the house. "Better go grab a coat Spike. Thing's are about to get chilly."


	9. Chapter 9

Chap. 9

Here's another one. I hope you guys are enjoying so far. Smallville and all characters are still owned by DC. Buffy isn't mine either. if only. sigh

--

Clark set Spike down on the ground outside of the caves, trying to hide a smirk at the look on his face. Spike's short hair was matted down even further by the speeds they had just reached, and his legs wobbled slightly as he stood. "Ok… that's gonna take a little getting used to." He grabbed Clark's arm to steady himself, blinked twice, and then stood. "Ok, I'm fine." He looked towards Clark just in time to see the Farmboy burst out in laughter, making his way to the entrance of the caves. "Uh… Clark, if we can just keep this between ourselves, I'd appreciate it, alright?"

Clark could only laugh again as he kept moving.

Spike fell into step beside the younger man. "So what exactly are we doin' here, Clark?"

"We're going to talk to my biological father. He should know what to do about Lana and Lex."

Spike shook his head. "Uhhh… I recall something about your parents being caught on Krylon when it exploded."

Clark glanced over. "It's Krypton. And they were. This is a… computer program basically. It's the AI of my father. He has all the knowledge Jor-El did."

"Ah ok. So why did you tell me to grab a coat?" he asked, gesturing to the heavy blue jacket he had borrowed from Jonathan.

"Because Jor-El isn't in the caves. The cave will take us to him, with this." He held up the octagonal metal key. Clark stepped into the darkness, only to be met with a low green glow. He stumbled slightly, staring at the wall where the keyhole had originally been. All he was met with was a solid layer of green meteor rock. "What… no!" He kept moving towards the wall, the pain growing. He hit his knees, trying to crawl closer.

"Clark, no!" Spike grabbed Clark's legs, pulling him back from the glowing wall. "Isn't this the stuff that can kill you?"

"I don't care. I have to get to the Fortress!" Clark kept trying to pull himself up, but Spike held him down.

"Clark, let me try to break through, ok?" Spike pushed Clark up against the opposite wall, trying to make the younger man stay. When Clark stopped struggling finally, Spike stood. Grabbing a chunk of rock off the ground, he walked to the green wall, and with a loud growl, slammed the rock into the surface. The rock in his hands only shattered into pieces. Spike punched at the wall, stepping back and shaking his hand from the jolt of pain that hit him. "Dammit, this is worse than asphalt!"

Clark pulled himself to his feet, wiping the sweat off his face. "We've got to get through, Spike."

"I don't think it's gonna happen. Is there any other way to get to this place?"

Clark clenched his fists. "No. This is the only way." Fighting the pain he felt coursing, Clark trudged to the wall again. He fought the pain, the buckling in his knees. Stepping up to the wall, Clark gritted his teeth and only one thought came into his mind. Chloe. Taking deep breaths, he pulled his arm back and, letting out a scream, flung his fist into the wall. The cavern shook with the force, and Spike saw the glowing green rock crack. He couldn't even move, unable to even think about getting in Clark's way right now.

Pulling his other fist back, Clark slammed into the wall again… and again… and again… Spike had to dodge a falling stalactite as the cavern shook harder. Clark didn't stop, even as his hands bled from touching the poisonous rock. After several more shots, he finally crumpled to his knees, gasping for air. "Spike… the key… put it in!"

Spike went through Clark's pocket, finding the octagonal disc and moving to place it in the wall… only to find a green disc in his way. "There's already a key in here. It's made out of the rock!"

Grabbing at Spike's arm, Clark pulled himself up once more. Growling, he slammed one more fist into the key, shattering it. A burst of green light slammed into Clark, sending him flying across the room, his limp body hitting the wall with a thud. The rest of the green rock that had been covering the wall disappeared after the key was destroyed, leaving the room in a dark gloom again. "Alright Farmboy that was… Clark?"

Spike turned, seeing Clark unconscious against the wall. His hands were mangled, covered in blood and bits of the green rock. He rushed over, kneeling. "Clark?" Checking his friend, Spike could barely find a pulse. "Oh come on… this is getting old." Hefting the larger man over his shoulder, Spike walked back to the wall, staring at the metal key for a moment. "Alright then. Let's go visit Santa."

--

It only took Buffy a few moments to get out of the ropes they had tied her hands with, thankful that these people apparently had no knowledge of Slayers up to this point. Crouching, she undid the ropes on Chloe's hands, and then rolled her to her back. "Chloe. Come on, wake up." Lightly patting her cheek, Buffy sighed, worried about how hurt her friend was.

Chloe sat up suddenly, gasping. "Clark!" Buffy's hand clamped over her mouth quieting her down. After she calmed down a little, Buffy pulled away.

"Are you ok?"

Chloe only nodded, then rubbed the spot on her forehead where she had been hit hard by Lana. "What the hell is going on here? How did Lex and Lana get Clark's powers?"

Buffy only shook her head. "I have no idea. All I know is we're in some kind of abandoned underground shed. The sign outside had a big LC on it."

"It's a Luthorcorp building. Lex brought us to one of the many abandoned sites he's had to leave because we broke up his meteor rock tests." Chloe gasped. "Oh god, if Clark comes here he might be hurt. If there's still meteor rock around, he'll be weak."

Buffy held Chloe by the shoulders. "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be trying to figure this out. He's not as hot headed as Spike." Buffy's lip trembled as she remembered seeing Spike fly out of the window, out of her sight. "Between the two of them we'll be out of here in no time. I just wish Slayer strength came a little more in Clark's territory. This door has to be at least six inches thick with five different locks."

Sliding down the wall, Chloe sat with a thud. She rubbed her head again, noticing the swelling was going away. These Slayer abilities were really handy to have.

Buffy joined her. "So is this how things usually go in Smallville?"

Chloe could only laugh. "Welcome to the meteor capital of the world. Things are always happening, people are always going crazy when they get around these rocks. I don't know what happened with Lex and Lana though. They didn't just have one thing, they had multiple powers. Regular meteor freaks don't have multiple powers. They're usually limited to one ability."

It was quiet in the room for a while. Then Buffy turned to Chloe. "Wanna play rock, paper, scissors?"

--

Spike staggered into the crystal fortress, having to catch himself from falling after the sudden shift. "Whoa. He wasn't kidding." Pulling the coat tighter around himself, Spike looked around for any signs of someone living here… but it was empty. He carried Clark to a flat space, laying him down. "Come on Farmboy… wake up. I've seen you in worse shape than this, this is nothing." He chuckled… a hollow empty sound. Spike's breathing sped up. He clenched his fists, bringing them hard and fast against Clark's chest. "WAKE UP!"

"Step away from Kal-El."

Spike jumped back from the noise that echoed in the large room. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am Jor-El. I am the biological father of Kal-El."

"Wait. Lex called Clark that name when he attacked the Kent's. Who are you?! Are you involved with Lex?!" His fists clenched again, reaching out towards a crystal outcropping, ready to break a piece off to fight with.

"Alexander Luthor and Lana Lang corrupted the Kawatche Cavern with the meteor rock key. The powers they possess are not truly Kryptonian. A link was formed between the Fortress and the cavern, and they were able to download the history of Krypton and the abilities of a native who is on this planet."

Spike nodded. "So they have the same powers as Clark. What about his weakness?"

Spike could swear he heard a sigh come from the walls. "They were created through a corrupted amalgam of the meteor rock and the fortress' technology. Kryptonite will not harm them."

Shaking his head, Spike sat down. "Well what about him? He's out of it, it took all he had to get through to the keyhole." He turned to Clark, barely able to hear ragged breaths being taken. "He can't go down from this. The world needs him."

There was dead silence as they say quietly… then the cavern lit up more. "You are not human. Nor are you demon. You yourself have much to offer this Planet, William Pratt."

"How do you know who I am?"

"I have observed Kal-El in his life. I know of the battle on the west coast. And I know of his chosen mate."

"Her name is Chloe. And his name…" he glanced down at his friend, "is Clark."

The Fortress was quiet for a moment. "Place him in the chamber. He must be cleansed of the meteor fragments."

Spike picked up Clark's limp form, carrying him to the table that had opened up. Laying him down, Spike stepped back, watching as a top closed on the table. The fortress hummed with power, and he noticed a bright light filling the chamber. Small pieces of meteor were pelting the glass case, he supposed being pulled out of Clark's hands.

Suddenly a large hand slapped against the glass, and the lid lifted. Clark hurried out of the small box, almost tripping in his haste. "W-where am I?"

Spike walked over, gripping his shoulder. "We're in your dad's… your father's place."

Clark looked to Spike, then up at the room. "You… you helped me? I thought you were still mad at me for failing you before!"

"While I am still upset about your earlier transgressions, I can not stand by while you are in danger." A loud throat clearing from Spike got Clark's attention. "And I could not stand by while your chosen mate is harmed either. You have chosen well for yourself Kal-El."

Clark smiled slightly. "I know." He turned around to face his friend. "We have to go find Chloe and Buffy. I think I know how to stop them."

As the two warriors headed back towards the portal to the caves, the Fortress spoke one last time. "Be careful… Clark."

Clark was shocked at the AI's first admission to his human upbringing. He was awestruck before finally being able to speak. "Thank you… father."

The two disappeared in a flash, leaving the Fortress empty once more.


	10. Chapter 10

Ok folks, here's a long one. But we're finally getting to some of the big action, so I hope you'll enjoy. I own none of this.

Chap 10

Lex stood on the edge of the bridge, surveying the river running below him. His hand rubbed over the metal guardrail, seeing where new metal had been placed between the original. He heard the click of heels on the ground behind him, and grinned. The sound was almost as noticeable as an elephant trampling a light bulb factory to him now. He turned, seeing his love… his new dark Goddess. "Lana."

She smiled in return, all traces of the sweet girl that most likely existed once gone now. "How long do we have to wait Lex?"

He moved closer, taking her hand. "I'm not sure my love. I don't know how long it will take Clark to figure out my message. I don't have much faith, look how moronic he was to let you go." Lex touched her cheek softly, feeling a low burn behind his eyes.

Their lips almost brushed when Lex tilted his face, hearing a low whistle from far off. "Do you hear that, Lana?"

She looked around, then craned her ear to listen in. "I hear something… but what…" She was suddenly staring into empty air, feeling a tremor all around her. Glancing down, she saw a hole in the bridge where Lex had been.

She heard applause from behind her. "Wow. Farmboy would be great to have on your team in hopscotch. That jump was at least half a mile, straight up." Lana turned in time to see a fist flying into her face, knocking her to the ground.

"You know…" Spike said, shaking his hand out, flexing the fingers to make sure they weren't broken, "I try not to fight ladies much anymore, used to be a real bad habit of mine. But I don't think you really qualify."

As Lana stood, he swung around, bringing his boot up against her right temple, knocking her over off of the railing into the grass below. He hopped onto the railing, licking his teeth with a big grin. "Payback's a Lana."

--

Lex popped up from the river, looking around. He had been talking to Lana and was suddenly underwater. "What was tha…" was all he could say before being dragged down again. Looking at what had a hold of him, he saw Clark. Smiling, Lex threw a leg out into Clark's chest, only to have the smile fade when Clark caught him. Twisting, Clark threw Lex hard into the river bank, sending him deep into the mud. Clark kicked off the center pylon, slamming his fists into Lex's chest, driving both of them deeper underground.

--

Spike was doing well against the brunette, using it to his advantage that she didn't know how to handle these new powers of hers, and every kick and punch she threw was taking her off balance. She had just missed a roundhouse back fist by almost a foot when he popped up under her, upper cutting her hard enough to sprawl her on her back. Standing over her, he grabbed hold of her coat. "Where are the girls?"

She simply grinned. "Don't worry. You'll see them soon enough." Before Spike could react, he felt a super powered knee catch him in the groin, tossing him over her head and onto his back, groaning.

"Oooooooh that was dirty," he moaned, both hands cupping his damaged goods. Finally opening his eyes, he looked just in time to see Lana grabbing him by the throat. Without lifting, she slung him around, grinning more as his body made a grotesque crack against a tree near the bank.

By the time she strolled up to where he had landed, Spike was on his feet, barely. "Ok bitch… had enough?" he asked, his hands barely up in a fighting stance, which broke when he had to cup his groin again. "I think there's three there now, how hard did you kick me?"

Lana ran for him at super speed, barely giving Spike time to react. He threw his right knee up, catching her in the jaw, sending her flying to the side several yards, landing hard in the grass. "One more time bitch. Where's Buffy and Chloe?!"

He was answered by her flying into the air suddenly, cracking his jaw with a hard punch as she went soaring.

Lana floated down, standing over the prone ex-vampire. "You can take a beating. But what about the heat?" Her eyes glowed dully, getting brighter right before she let the intense burst of heat go… but instead of a fried Spike, she only saw the tree line burst into flames as she was knocked silly, flying onto her stomach in the dirt.

Clark stood where she had just been, covered in mud and dirt, his clothes soaked. Tossing his jacket aside he went over, trying to wake Spike up. "Come on Spike. Come on. I'm not sure you can take some of the encouragement you gave me earlier in this shape."

Clark let a big breath out when Spike started to move. "Don't get all mushy on me Farmboy. I'll have to hurt you again."

Clark chuckled. "Again?" he asked as he stood, helping Spike up. "When did you hurt me the first time?"

"I know that wedgie left a mark, and not just on your skivvies. You've been walkin' funny all day." Spike stood, walking over to Lana before she could get up again. "Now listen to me. Tell me where they are or I'll have to…"

"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" Spike and Clark were thrown back several feet by a blast of heat vision exploding the ground around them. Lex flew down, covered in mud and as soaked as Clark. Grabbing Lana, he picked her up in his arms, floating up above the two men. "Nothing can ever be simple with you can it, Clark? You can't just do what you're told! Now Chloe and her little friend are going to suffer for it! Then, I'll be back for you." Lex took off in a flash, streaking across the sky towards town.

Spike stood slowly, feeling his adrenaline waning and the aches kicking up a notch. "Ok… that didn't work exactly according to plan. Now what?" When he looked over at Clark, he was smiling. "What's got you so happy over there? We have no clue where they are."

"I wouldn't say that Spike." Clark tapped his ear. "I've learned a trick or two recently." He started to walk back towards the road. "You coming?"

Spike grumbled as he followed. "Yea, so easy for him… he didn't get clocked in the nuts by the anti-Barbie."

--

Buffy and Chloe were finishing off the latest round of rock, paper, scissors when the cell door flung open, banging against the metal wall making both of their ears ring. They barely had time to stand before Lex was in front of them, dirty and seething. He lifted both by their throats, slamming them back into the metal wall. "I gave your boyfriends a chance, but they didn't want to play nice. They hurt Lana…. MY LANA!" he roared, slamming them into the wall harder.

Buffy and Chloe both threw a leg out into Lex's chest, catching him solidly. He staggered back, not letting go of their throats. Glaring at Buffy, then Chloe, he snarled, "There's something not right about the two of you." Flinging Chloe easily to the side, she slammed face first into the wall of the cell. Both of his hands tightened on Buffy's throat. "Let's see how much fight your little boyfriend has left in him when he sees your lifeless body in front of him."

Buffy brought her arms up quickly in between Lex's, breaking his grip. Pushing off the wall, she brought a high kick up into his jaw, and then spun into a kick to his sternum, staggering him. "More than enough to still kick your Rogaine challenged butt!" she said, her voice raspy. She moved toward him, prepared to throw a thrust punch to his chest when he snapped back against her, slamming a shoulder into her abdomen, slamming her into the wall again.

He gripped her face in one hand, a sinister smile covering his lips. "On second thought, maybe I'll keep you around. There's something interesting about you, I can't wait to get inside and see what makes you tick." He leaned in, noses almost touching as he glared deep into her eyes.

Lex was suddenly ripped away, thrown into the other side of the cell. Buffy saw Clark standing in front of her, filthy in a stained t-shirt and jeans. "Took you long enough." She rubbed her throat as he pulled her up easily.

"Get Chloe and get her out of here." He turned slowly, staring Lex in the eyes. "I've got something to handle in here.

Buffy scrambled over, pulling Chloe to her feet. They glanced at Clark before exiting the room.

Spike stepped into the doorway, only to be stopped with a hand to the chest. "I've got this Spike. Make sure they're ok." One look in Clark's eyes told Spike not to argue.

"Ok then Farmboy. He's all yours." Spike walked away before hearing the thick metal slab of a door slam shut. "God help him."

--

Lex stood, circling across the cell from Clark. "How did you find this place? How did you know where we were?"

Clark tapped his ear. "Once you get used to it, you can tune in to someone. It was hard to find the heartbeat, but I managed to track yours down, Lex.

Chuckling quietly, Lex held his hands out. "So this is what it's come to? This is what happens to a great friendship, eh Clark?"

"I don't know what you consider to be friendship, Lex, but it doesn't include attacking someone's parents and friends."

Slamming his fist into the wall, Lex shouted above the echo. "You used to include me in that list of friends!"

"I STOOD BY YOU WHEN NO ONE ELSE WOULD!" Clark roared, pointing at Lex. "I went against my own father's wishes to give you a chance. I never judged you based on your father or your name Lex! But you gave me plenty of your own faults to judge you by."

Chuckling, Lex walked around the cramped room. "So that's it? A few transgressions on my part and I'm damned in the hallowed views of Clark Kent?"

"You went into my life, Lex. You broke into my family's privacy, our lives. Chloe told me about you threatening her when I was missing the day of the meteor shower Lex! There is no excuse for any of that!"

"YOU GAVE UP ON ME! You left me to rot in the Luthor name Clark. After you stopped being my friend, there was nothing else in my life except my work and my name! Not all of us were lucky enough to have the oh so holier than thou Jonathan Kent as our fathe…"

Lex's head slammed into the wall of the cell before he was finished, blood streaming from his nose. Clark moved in a flash, pulling him up to his feet. "Never talk about my father again. You don't have the right. He even let his views of you be changed, but eventually you proved him right."

Grabbing Clark by the shirt, Lex spun around, throwing him to the opposite wall, denting it. "Enough of this. It's time to find out if the Kawatche legends were right… Sageeth."

Clark stood, eyes glowing as he stared at his former friend. "You've got a lot to learn about history Lex."

--

Spike helped Chloe and Buffy settle down, his fingers moving over the marks on Buffy's face. "Are you ok, luv?"

"I'm fine Spike. How about you? You don't look so hot right now. I mean, not hot like hurt, not as in not sexy hot… I mean…" Spike cut her off with a deep kiss.

Chloe could only sigh. "Get a room."

Buffy was about to reply when they were interrupted by a very loud clang coming from inside the cell they had just occupied. "What was that?"

Spike looked over his shoulder, smirking. "Payback."

Chloe gasped when she saw the right wall bow out, like something had slammed into it hard enough to bend half a foot of steel. "Oh god… Clark…"

Spike touched her hand. "He'll be fine Chloe, don't…" he was cut off by a sharp kick from behind. Groaning, Spike slid back to his knees. "Oh hell… you really don't play fair."

Lana stood over him, and then she kicked Buffy in the face, sending her backwards over the barrels they were sitting on. Lana moved to punch Chloe, but her fist was soon wrapped in Chloe's hand. Lana's eyes went wide as she realized there was something different about her friend, as she looked at the blonde. "Lana… we need to have a serious talk."

Chloe released Lana's hand, twirling her arm over Lana's and hooking her elbow behind the brunette's, pulling it tight and locking Lana's arm. Grabbing a hold of her long hair, Chloe shoved Lana's surprised face down into her knee, letting her moves flow from years of practice. Releasing her arm, Chloe slammed the edge of her flattened hand into Lana's throat, driving the raven haired attacker to her knees. Finishing with a spinning thrust kick, Chloe landed the sole of her foot solidly in Lana's face, knocking her onto her back.

Stepping back, Chloe stretched her knee out while rubbing her hand, ignoring the ache in both of them from the punches she landed on the super powered she-witch. "What's gotten into you? Why are you doing this, to Clark and to me of all people? We're your best friends Lana!"

Lana stood slowly, daintily touching a finger to her split lip. "No you're not. Friends don't lie to friends Chloe. Friends don't keep secrets from friends!" She ran at the blonde, tackling her, shrieking as they slammed into the wall of the cell Clark and Lex were in right now. Lana scratched at Chloe's face, growling as she went to maim her. Lana was pulled back by her long locks, Spike tossing her back into the barrels.

"Time me and you settled up princess." He moved toward Lana, but Chloe stopped him. "This is my fight. I'll handle this."

Sighing, Spike stepped back, his hands up. Moving to where Buffy had sat down to readjust her jaw, he flopped down with a sigh. "I don't get to hit anyone tonight. This sucks, you know that?"

Buffy simply glared at him, then back to the former friends who were facing off. "Kick her ass, Chloe," she muttered.

--

Clark and Lex were evenly matched, the Kryptonian had to admit that. Every punch led to bloody knuckles and split lips. Clark was pushing himself up off of the floor when he felt searing heat boring into his chest. Letting out a scream, Clark fell, clutching the seared skin on his chest. "Having to pull an ace out of your sleeve, Lex?"

Laughing, Lex stared at the floor below Clark's hand, heating it up quickly. Clark moved, using his own heat vision to set Lex's shoe aflame. Both of the men were moving around, trying to get rid of the scorching pain on their skin. "You know what? I don't think this is going to be answered here. Maybe we should find a nice open area. Like a farm?"

Clark glared, understanding Lex's meaning. "Don't..."

Lex stared up at the ceiling, then to Clark. "It's time to finish what I started. No one looks down on the Luthor name. No one." Crouching, Lex prepared to jump into the ceiling of the cell, ready to burst through. The last thing he felt before hitting the ceiling was the bones of his ribcage crunching under Clark's shoulder when he slammed into Lex's body, slamming them both into the wall hard enough to rattle the entire metal room.

--

Spike jumped at the sudden noise from the cell, eyes widening. "What the hell are they doing?" He stood, moving to the cell slowly.

He had to move back suddenly when a fist shaped dent bowed the wall out a few inches from his face.

Chloe was caught under Lana's forearm in a front face lock, her forearm cutting off the blonde's air. Holding onto the pockets of Lana's jeans, she kicked her right foot up behind her, cracking her heel into Lana's forehead, knocking her back.

Buffy and Spike could only watch while the two women were fighting like animals, scratching, clawing, screaming and pelting each other with blows hard enough to bring an elephant to his knees crying.

Suddenly a loud cry came out of the cell, a primal roar of pain. Everyone could recognize the tone… it belonged to a certain farm dwelling Clark Kent. Chloe's attention was pulled from the fight as she turned to the room, eyes wide with fear for Clark.

"Looks like your boyfriend couldn't take a challenge. That's what he gets for everything he's done." Lana's arms crossed, a sneering smirk playing over her lips.

Chloe turned slowly, nostrils flaring. "For everything he's done? Does that include saving your selfish ass so many times? Does that include spending years doting on you, trying to make you happy? Does that include the fact he's spent his life holed up all alone, afraid he would get someone hurt if he let them in?"

"He should have told me! I know all about him now, Chloe! I know what he's done to us! He should have told me that he's responsible for my parent's death! He brought these meteors to our town!"

Chloe could only laugh hollowly. "It must tear you up that you live in this selfish little self absorbed world, seeing people like Clark out there helping anyone that needs it. He isn't responsible for the meteors. That wasn't his fault. It was fate, Lana. He had no control over it." Stepping up closer, Chloe got right in Lana's face. "And his secret? I've known for a long time now. Probably at least six months. How does that make you feel, Lana? I never pushed him for his secret, I never threatened him, I never gave him an ultimatum. And I… knew… the truth... first."

The self control Lana was holding onto snapped. She swung at Chloe, all her power focused into this hit. Chloe ducked just in time, feeling Lana's sleeve brush against her hair. Chloe brought both her fists up, slamming into Lana's jaw. As she staggered back, Chloe hopped over the barrels, a hard kick catching Lana in the face. Lana threw another punch, this one caught by Chloe, pinning Lana's arm under her own. Slamming knee after knee into the brunette's ribs, Chloe jumped, bringing a knee back into Lana's nose.

Lana pulled back, scared. She threw a wild kick which Chloe easily sidestepped. She threw a thrust punch at Chloe's face. Chloe brushed it aside with her forearm, punching Lana in the ribs with a short hit. Stumbling back, Lana tried again, swinging at Chloe's face again. Chloe took the punch, spinning with it and delivering a roundhouse to Lana's temple, knocking her to the ground.

Spike raised his eyebrows. "Interesting use of momentum. Not sure I'd try that one though." Buffy simply nodded, watching the rest of the fight. Chloe had only been powered for the last week or so, but she moved like a woman with a purpose.

From the floor, Lana kicked up at Chloe, only to have her leg grabbed. Gritting her teeth, Chloe smashed her shin into Lana's kneecap hard enough to destroy a regular knee. With her added powers, Lana only screamed in agony as she felt a muscle or two tear.

"Do you have anything else to say about my boyfriend?" Chloe asked in a flat tone.

Lana begged. "Please… Chloe, let me go. This is all a mistake. I don't know what's happening to me. Lex dragged me into this. I had no idea… I don't want any of this, I don't care about Clark's secrets!"

Chloe smirked, but her response was cut short by the sound of ripping… more like exploding metal. Looking behind her, she saw a limp body flying through the air bursting through the metal roof. "Clark?" She let go of Lana, moving toward the room just in time for the door to fly open… and a bruised Clark stumbled out. His t-shirt ripped to shreds, he pulled the tattered pieces apart, letting it drop. Chloe ran a hand over his face… lightly touching the splits in his skin. "Clark." She hugged him tightly, not caring about the shape he was in.

"I'm fine. I'm fine Chloe." He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "But I'm not done yet."

Chloe pulled back slowly. "What do you mean?"

"We have to stop him. Have to turn him back to what he was. Lex might not have been a treat, but super powered Lex is worse." He looked up to see Spike and Buffy standing next to them. "I need a favor. I need you guys to go to my house, make sure that my parents are ok. He threatened to finish the job."

"Of course. Can't let anything happen to Mama Kent, none of us can cook that good." Buffy elbowed Spike again, but she was smiling.

"We'll protect them Clark," she added, touching his hand. "Just finish that bastard." Her voice was still scratching from Lex's grip.

Clark nodded, looking over to see Lana still on the floor. "Can you keep an eye on her?" he asked Chloe.

Smiling, Chloe looked back at the brunette. "Oh yea. We're having a great time reminiscing. Aren't we Lana?"

The girl said nothing, pulling herself further from the group. She wasn't even trying to fight back, knowing she had no chance against four. Chloe had beaten her easily alone.

Nodding to his girlfriend, Clark stepped back. "Time to go."

"How are you going to find him Clark? You don't know where he landed," Chloe asked him.

"I can tune into him. I can find him." With that, Clark sped out of the room, leaving the rest of them to stare at an empty spot.

After a few moments, Buffy finally turned to Chloe. "Do you ever get used to that?"

Chloe just shook her head. "Nope. Probably not gonna either."


	11. Chapter 11

I own none of the characters in this story. And please, review. If you liked it, or even if not. Reviews are the only payment i get from this... kinda sad, i know.

Chap 11

Pulling himself out of the rubble left in the trail of his landing, if you could call it that, Lex brushed himself off as best he could. His long trench coat was in tatters, one sleeve missing completely. Cracking his neck, he heard the loud pops as bone shifted against bone, slipping back into place. "Impressive. I have to give him that."

Crouching slightly, Lex prepared to jump into the air. He took flight, but it appeared to be backwards. The streak of Clark Kent appeared out of nowhere, tackling Lex into the woods, leaving a row of fallen trees and disturbed brush behind them. Their momentum stopped by a sudden slam into the side of a large rock face, Lex gasped, spitting blood from the trauma he had just experienced.

Grabbing him by what was left of his lapel, Clark swung Lex around, throwing him into the trees, seeing him wedge under the roots as he went down into the ground. Running over, Clark moved to grab Lex again, only to hit his knees, gasping. Looking down at his hands, he saw his veins standing out, dark and painful. Clark looked around, finally finding what was wrong… Kryptonite. The tree Lex had uprooted had a large piece under the roots, glowing lightly now.

Lex noticed what was happening to his former friend. Looking where Clark was staring, he saw the glowing meteor rock. "That's it. That's what was wrong with you all this time. Lana's necklace, the tank at the Summerholt labs…all of it was because of the meteor." Reaching down, he pried a piece loose, turning it over in his hands. "I guess your home really isn't a comforting place to you is it Clark?"

Before Clark could move, Lex had leapt at him, pressing the meteor to his face. Screaming, Clark tried to pull back, his body fighting against him.

With a sick smile, Lex pulled his hand away, seeing the darkened mark on Clark's skin. "All of those abilities and a piece of rock can take you down." Tossing the rock up and down, Lex circled Clark. "I can definitely have some fun with this. But now, I think it's time to pay the good Kent family a final visit."

Clark lunged as best be could, only to be met with a punch from the hand holding the meteor. Falling in a heap, he gaped up, his vision red. "Lex… no… leave them out of this."

"It's too late Clark. It's too late." Tossing the rock onto Clark's chest, Lex took off for the sky once again, glancing down as he flew above the trees, before bursting off in a blinding speed.

Panting, Clark tried to sit up… then tried to roll to his side, finally managing to knock the rock off of his chest. But there was too much of it laying around, exposed now. Clark couldn't get his power back. Falling flat on his back, he let his head fall to the ground, too tired to hold it up. Eyelids barely cracking, he noticed something a few yards off. Sunlight was hitting the ground where one of the fallen trees had covered before. Forcing himself, Clark rolled onto his stomach, clawing at the dirt, pulling himself across it to try to reach the sun. Gasping, he didn't stop when he went across a patch of meteor rock, fighting not to notice as his skin burned. With several feet left to go, Clark stared at the patch of sun, knowing it was his only hope. Breathing hard, he pushed up to his knees… and leapt, finally landing in the warm grass.

Gasping when he felt the rays warming his body, Clark's body arched, feeling the burns disappear, feeling his muscles recharged. Standing, Clark flexed his arms, feeling the power again. Then he ran.

--

Chloe was standing against a post, staring at Lana as she laid on the floor still. The brunette hadn't said a word for the past ten minutes, sitting with her knees against her chest. Finally, the silence was broken. "You should have told me, Chloe."

Looking over, Chloe was confused. "About what, Lana?"

"About Clark… and you."

She sighed. "Lana, Clark and I have only been together for a few days. We weren't going behind your back."

Lana snorted. "Please. After all the other lies, I'm supposed to believe that?"

Chloe glared at Lana. Walking over slowly, she grabbed her by the collar, pulling her to her feet. Lana glared back, a self satisfied smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. The smirk left when Chloe slapped her, hard.

Gasping, Lana looked back at the blonde. "How dare you!"

Chloe responded with another slap.

Lana stumbled back. "What are you doing? Chloe stop it!"

"I am tired of the self obsessed, uncaring, selfish bitch that you have become. I want to tell myself you weren't always like this, but you were. From day one you've played people to get your way. Remember Whitney? The guy you strung along, and then dumped with a 'Dear John' letter when he was off in the military? He wasn't here anymore, so you moved to Clark. How quickly did you turn your back on the regular old Clark Kent when the popular Whitney came back that time? But Clark still helped you when you found out it was Tina Greer. How many others have you used, Lana? How many other friends have you drug along until they couldn't help you anymore?"

"My parents were killed in the…" Another harder slap knocked Lana back down.

"MY MOTHER DISAPPEARED WHEN I WAS EIGHT!" Chloe roared. "You don't have the market cornered on losing a parent Lana! But your life wasn't horrible! You had friends, family that loved you. People that bent over backwards for you, but it's never been good enough has it! One person wouldn't bow to you on every desire of yours, and that drove you crazy. Clark wouldn't just tell you everything, and you couldn't stand it."

Lana lunged, slamming into Chloe hard, bringing one of the support posts down when they hit it. Managing to get a grip on Chloe's throat, Lana grinned. "I guess Lex has had enough time by now. We're going to go pay the Kents a visit Chloe. Get ready to say goodbye."

Chloe could only grab at the arm holding her as she was lifted into the air with ease, the loss of air and the sudden slam through the roof knocking her unconscious.

--

Spike was helping Jonathan to salvage anything that was still working in the living room and kitchen. He was lifting a chunk of the window molding to put outside in the trash pile when he heard Jonathan's pained cry, "Aw no! Not again!"

Dropping the molding, Spike dashed over to the kitchen. "Mr. Kent, what is it?!"

Jonathan was crouched by the sink, holding the pieces of his cow mug in his hands. "This is the third one of these I've gone through in a year."

Spike stared, straight-faced. "A cow mug? You've got me worrying that something was really wrong, and it was because your cow mug broke?"

"Don't argue with him, William. I gave up on that one years ago." Martha was walking down the stairs with Buffy, carrying some items that had fallen and shattered from the impact the house had taken.

Going back to moving the trash, Spike glanced up, seeing the look on Buffy's face. He walked over, pulling her next to him by the counter. "Hey, you ok luv?"

She just nodded, unable to look up at him. Spike tilted her face up to his, making her meet his eyes. "Talk to me ok?"

Buffy just sighed. "Spike, this stuff is always happening with us. What if we're bad mojo? What if we brought this on the Kents by coming here? I mean god, our town disappeared into a crater, what are we gonna make happen to Smallville?"

Martha had been listening, and came over, touching Buffy's shoulder. "This isn't your fault at all. None of this has to do with you or William. This has been coming to a head for years, ever since Clark pulled Lex out of his car in that river. Lex was never able to let go of what happened and it drove him crazy. As for Lana…" Martha sighed, rubbing her hands together. "I guess everyone treating her like the perfect little angel wasn't what she needed. But everyone was so worried about her, she saw her parents die in the first meteor shower."

"And it's all because of your son." Everyone spun, seeing Lana floating, carrying an unconscious Chloe. "Now he's going to pay." She threw Chloe at the group with ease.

Spike jumped, catching the blonde before rolling, holding her close to try to keep her from being jarred again. Laying her against what was left of the sofa, he turned, seeing Buffy leaping at the dark clad woman.

If Lana had trouble with Chloe, she was definitely struggling against the experienced Slayer. Every punch and kick were countered with ease. Lana finally had to resort to cheap tactics, speeding around Buffy to punch her in the back of the head. Grabbing her hair, Lana slung Buffy into the wall.

Spike moved quickly to grab at Lana, but he was suddenly slammed through the floor, hitting the foundation of the house.

Lex walked over to Lana, pulling her close. "Good work, my love." He then turned to the Kents. "Your son has caused enough trouble in this town. I won't let him harm the world in the same manner." He stepped up to Jonathan who was putting himself between Martha and Lex. "And you helped him, all these years. You helped him bring all this pain. That makes you no more human than him!"

Martha tried to get past Jonathan, glaring defiantly at the bald billionaire. "How dare you judge someone else's humanity you bastard?"

Lex pushed Jonathan aside, reaching for Martha. Grabbing Lex's coat, Jonathan pulled himself closer, punching Lex as hard as he could, yelling as he felt his hand break. "You don't touch my wife," he got out through gritted teeth.

Lex merely grinned. "Have it your way then." He grabbed Jonathan by the shirt, lifting him. Hearing Spike jump up through the hole, he grabbed the other man by the throat. "Lana, if you would be so kind." He flew off through the hole in the living room, leaving Lana to collect the rest of the people.

Buffy tried to fight her off, Lana trapped her arm. "Don't make me hurt Chloe. There is a chance some of you might live."

Buffy and Martha simply gave in, knowing right now they couldn't fight Lana and protect Chloe. Grabbing Chloe by the collar, she dragged the three of them through the wall, flying up to meet Lex.

--

Clark was making his way towards the house as fast as he could when he heard a voice. Skidding to a stop on the road, he perked his ears to listen.

"Clark. I know you can hear me. I can see you from here. Now don't move, I don't want to have to hurt your father just yet. Do you understand me? Give me a thumbs up if you do." Clark sighed, giving the gesture, knowing he had to play this game for now. "That's good. Now, it's time to make a choice Clark. It's time for you to decide who's more important; your friends, or your family."

Clark's head shot up at that, staring towards the direction of home. He started to move, but was cut off by his mom's scream.

"I didn't say you could move yet Clark!" This made him stand still, not even setting his other foot down. "Good boy. Now, as I said, you must make a choice. Look up."

Doing as he was told, Clark scanned the sky for a moment before noticing a group high in the sky over his home.

"Five people Clark. Five lives. Three are friends, two are family. What choice are you going to make? You're not fast enough to save them all." With that, Lex and Lana spun, flinging their captives high into the air.

Clark stared in horror, seeing all of them fly off in separate directions. He felt his stomach heave, like when he was stared down from the roof of the barn. But he wasn't up high he was… Clark looked down, seeing he was up off the ground by at least ten feet. Not stopping to think, he let instincts take over… and took off in a burst of speed into the sky.


	12. Chapter 12

I own nothing. We're getting towards the end here.

Chap 12

Lex floated near Lana, watching the Kents and the three super powered fighters arc up into the air, flying out in several directions. "This is only the first step. Once he's broken, then we get our true revenge my darling." He brushed a hair from Lana's face, only to be disturbed by a loud whoosh rushing past him. "What was that?" He turned, scanning the sky… and saw a blue streak rushing toward one of the specks in the distance. Looking back to the ground, Clark was nowhere to be found. "Well he is just full of surprises today."

--

Clark flew faster than he knew was possible, arcing through the sky toward one of the people. He could see a flash of red hair. "MOM!" Straightening out more, he tried to speed up, catching his mom from behind and carrying her momentum, turning suddenly to head toward the next one.

Martha had been prepared to finally meet the end, but her ascent was suddenly stopped. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw none other than… "CLARK! How are you…?!"

He could only grin. "Hang on!" He angled himself higher, heading for the next speck in the sky. Zooming in, he could see that it was Buffy, trying to straighten herself out as she tumbled through the air. He flew in right beneath her, steadying her flight. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw she had her eyes shut tight. "Grab on!"

Buffy's eyes shot open, staring in awe. It didn't take long though and her arms were tight around his neck. "When did you get this little upgrade?"

Clark was already heading for the next speck. As he neared it, he could see his dad. Getting closer, he grabbed at his fathers boot, only to be met with the other one smashing him in the face. "DAD!"

Jonathan looked down. "Son!" He slid down, gripping onto Clark's shoulder, next to Buffy. "I thought you were Lex! When did you learn to…?"

"Another time dad!" He had found the last two specks… and they were close together. Wiling himself to go faster he took off, aiming for the last two.

Their momentum had shifted, and they were heading downwards now. Getting to the first one, he saw Spike. Clark was glancing between him and the rapidly approaching ground. As he got nearer, Spike shifted, seeing the group flying towards him.

Buffy tapped Clark's ear. "He's saying something!"

Concentrating, Clark locked onto Spike… "GET CHLOE! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!"

Clark stared at Spike, meeting his eyes… then he nodded. Turning, he went after Chloe, pushing himself faster. Reaching out, he pulled Chloe up against his chest, feeling her arms go tight around his neck. Turning quickly he went back for Spike, noticing they only had a few hundred more feet. "HOLD ON!" he shouted to his passengers, his free arm stretching out as he neared Spike.

Spike was looking up to them, not looking to the ground. He didn't want to know how close it was going to be, he was having enough trouble keeping his lunch down as it was.

Reaching harder, Clark felt his fingers hit Spike's. Looking down, he noticed the tree line coming, and he shot his hand out further, grabbing at Spike in a last ditch effort before twisting, trying to keep from hitting the trees.

Spike held on as tight as he could, yelling at the strain on his arm… and then screaming when his body hit the top of a tree, his arm wrenching, popping his shoulder out of the socket. Clark could hear the pain in his voice, and tried to land as quickly as possible. The landing was slightly harder than the take off, and he stumbled, dropping Spike as he dragged on his knees to a stop, his passengers falling off, rolling into the grass.

Up immediately, Clark knelt by his friend. "Spike, what happened?"

"My arm… my bloody arm popped out!" Spike's eyes were wide, staring up into the sky. "Ohhhhh shit… oh shit… tell your mum I'm sorry!" He was rolling around on his side, trying to hold the arm steady.

Clark reached down, pulling Spike up slowly. "Ok Spike, we have to pop it back in ok?" Clark stood, one hand on Spike's wrist, the other at his shoulder.

"Ohhh god. I swear if you rip my arm off I'll put Krylonate in my hand and beat you to death with… AHHHHHHHHHH!" Spike hit his knees when Clark popped the shoulder back into the socket, turning whiter than when he had been undead.

Buffy ran over to them, her arm around Spike quickly. "Are you ok?!"

Spike only nodded, unable to talk just yet. Clark turned to Buffy. "Have you got him?" She nodded in return, and he went to check on the others. His dad had an arm around his mom and Chloe, all of them shaking. "Are you guys ok?"

Jonathan nodded. "Son, when did you start to fly?"

"It happened once in Sunnydale, but I've never done it when I meant to. This was totally new." He turned Chloe to him, looking into her eyes. "Are you ok?"

She smirked, her lips still shaking a little. "Are you kidding? I knew you'd be right there."

He smiled back at her, leaning in to kiss her gently.

"That was quiet a show Clark. Or should I call you Kal-El now? You seem to have embraced your alien side fully." Lex and Lana stood off in the distance.

Clark put himself between them and the rest of his people. "You made a mistake Lex. There's not just two of my family here. There are five. And I always protect my family."

"A sickening sentiment to be sure, Clark. But I'm tired of these games. It's time to end all of this." Lex started to run at Clark, super speed kicking in…

Clark shifted into quick mode as well, running full bore at his former friend, memories running through his mind as everything seemed to slow down. He couldn't believe what had happened to a great friendship, but he knew finally what he had to do. Lex had threatened his family, his friends… and Chloe. There was no turning back from that.

The two titans slammed together in the middle of the pasture, the shockwave nearly knocking everyone over. Clark and Lex threw punches at each other, some landing, some missing wide… but Clark got the upper hand, slamming a punch into Lex's stomach and then one to the face, sending him flying.

As Lex pushed himself up off the ground, he looked at Lana, nodding. As Lex ran back toward Clark, Lana moved quickly, staring at the ground… then smiling.

Clark jumped at Lex once more, but instead of meeting him, Lex spun, grabbing Clark by the arm and throwing him hard towards Lana. Clark could see her just in time to notice her heat vision blasting at the ground, and he felt the familiar nauseous feeling sap his strength. Hitting the ground, he rolled until he slammed into the tree, groaning.

Lex crouched down next to Clark, sitting him up against the trunk. "It's come down to this, eh Clark? Finally, Sageeth will get what was coming to him. You're not going to destroy this world like you did your own." Reaching for a piece of meteor rock, Lex slowly moved it against Clark's chest, making Clark scream out in pain.

Chloe started moving, but she was cut off by Lex. "Move any closer and I'll put the rock through his throat!" Hearing her stop, he turned back to Clark. After more maneuvering, he stepped back, exposing Clark to the others.

Loud gasps echoed across the pasture. A crude figure 8 was cut into Clark's chest, with a dot to the left of it. Lex stood slowly, grinning at his work. "An alien 'J', for Judas." He turned, walking over to Lana.

Clark was gasping for air, looking round for anything that could help him. Staring down, he saw the clump of Kryptonite in front of him, embedded in the ground. Something from several years ago came to mind, nudging at his memory. Lex… kryptonite… heat… Martha… Kal…

Clark suddenly smiled. Or at least he tried to. Staring up at Lex, he gritted his teeth, hands moving to the ground beside him. Pushing himself up slowly, he felt his legs were like jelly, unable to work right. Pulling himself up with the tree, he finally stood tall, glaring at Lex. "That all you got?"

Lex turned slowly, seeing Clark standing up. "It's a little late to grow a backbone isn't it Clark?"

Clark had to work at it, but he managed to spit, hitting Lex in the shoe. "At least my little Clarks aren't in Lana's iron grip."

Lex moved, rocking Clark with a hard punch, almost sending him back to the ground. He turned back to Lana, but heard a low chuckle. Clark was pulling himself back upright, his lip bleeding all over. "Oh come on. Lana hit harder than that with no powers."

Lex moved quickly again, punching Clark square in the face, the tree cracking from the force as the back of Clark's head hit it. He could feel the blood run down the back of his neck. It took a minute for his vision to come back, but Clark smiled again, deciding to go for the kill shot… not for him hopefully. "Lionel was right about you."

Before Clark could finish, Lex slammed a kick into his chest hard, the tree cracking under the force. Clark sprawled backward over the leftover stump, hitting the ground with a thud.

"MY FATHER IS A FOOL! AND HE IS NEXT AFTER I'M DONE WITH YOU!"

His parents and friends were staring, scared to death. There was no movement from Clark, no noise at all. Finally a hand appeared, gripping the edge of the stump. Pulling himself up, Clark stared Lex down. Further from the Kryptonite, he felt himself coming back slowly. He only hoped it was enough. "Thank you, Lex."

Lex looked at Clark curiously. "For what?"

"One of your many lab screw ups that taught me about this." Staring at the ground beneath Lex, Clark focused his eyes, heat vision slamming out in waves.

Lex looked down, seeing the heat waves miss him, but hit the chunk of meteor rock buried underground. "What is he…" he was cut off by a tugging feeling. Soft at first, it grew quickly, pulling on him. "NO!!"

Lana was trying to move on her own, but she couldn't. Something was holding her in place, and she could only watch as the meteor rock started to darken, the green glow turning to black.

Clark felt drained, but he couldn't stop. This was his last chance. Fingers digging into the stump, he widened his eyes, turning up the heat.

Chloe watched as Lex and Lana seemed to shimmer, green auras wavering around their bodies. She suddenly remembered years ago, when Lex started acting strangely for one of the first times. The heated kryptonite. "It's working Clark, don't stop!"

Lex tried to move, his feet barely shuffling. "This isn't over Kal-El! It will never be over!" He reached out at Clark, but was nowhere near able to reach him.

Clark didn't look up. He only answered just loud enough for himself to hear. "I know that Lex. I know." With a last push, he shot all he had into the last gaze, the Kryptonite giving off a large blast, shooting Lex and Lana yards away. Clark blinked, looking in front of him and seeing two faint green shapes twisting in the air. He heard a faint groan, like a scream, and then the shapes disappeared, vanishing into thin air. Clark fell forward onto the stump, barely holding himself up on his arms.

Chloe was the first one to reach him, cupping his face. "Are you ok? Clark? Talk to me, please?"

Without looking up, he chuckled faintly. "I need a vacation."

Buffy came up and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Well, we can always head back to Calif…"

"NO MORE WEST COAST!"

--

45 minutes later, Clark, Chloe, Spike and Buffy stood next to one of Lex's precision sports cars out on the highway near Miller's Bend. Clark had found the car near the Kawatche Caves where Lex had left it whenever they became powered up. "Ok, so who wants to crash it?"

Spike was jumping up and down, his arm in the air like an 8 year old in a toy store. "Oooh let me!"

Clark laughed, tossing Spike the keys. "Don't flip it, just hit the tree hard enough to make the airbags pop."

Spike hopped in the car and headed down the road a ways to get some speed. Chloe stood near Clark, her arm linked through his, catching a hint of the fresh shirt he was wearing as the breeze gently blew. "Are you sure this will work?"

"Lex and Lana have some of the injuries we gave them. This is the only way to explain it. Hey, Buffy wanted to put them in the car before we crashed it," he informed her.

Chloe looked to Buffy, who only shrugged. "Tell me they don't deserve it."

Spike suddenly zipped past them, hitting the tree at a reasonable speed, the rear of the car jumping in the air slightly. A few seconds later the door opened, Spike crawling out slowly. "That was fun! Wish baldy had been awake to see it!"

Buffy ran a hand over his forehead where a cut had reopened. "Are you ok?"

"Oh hell yes, this was worth a few aspirin," Spike said, walking over to the truck to help Clark get the two sleeping pains in the asses out of the truck bed. Clark situated Lana in the passenger's seat as Spike put Lex in the driver's seat.

Right before he closed the door, Lex began to stir, muttering. Spike snapped a quick punch into Lex's left temple knocking him cold again. He noticed Clark staring at him as he slammed the driver's door shut. "What? He was coming to. This would have been hard to explain. Besides, he needed that bruise, it's where he hit the steering wheel." With a smirk, Spike began moving back to the truck.

Clark sighed, his body aching from the day's exertions. Limping slightly, he walked out of the ditch, his arm around Chloe as he helped her up into the front seat. The four friends drove off down the highway into the setting sun, Buffy smacking Spike in the back of the head as he mentioned a little last minute payback he had managed to pull off against the bald billionaire.

--

Around one A.M., Lana came to slowly. Looking around, she blinked rapidly, trying to figure out where she was. She saw Lex in the seat across from her, and she moved to wake him. She let out a shriek as she moved, her right knee throbbing. Touching it gently, she shrieked again, sure that something was broken, or at the very least torn. "Lex! Wake up!"

His eyes slowly opening, Lex looked at Lana. It hurt to move his head. "Wha… what happened?"

"You crashed us into a tree. My knee is hurt. How could you do this?" she asked, glaring at him.

"I… I don't remember." Pushing up slowly, his entire body was aching, every muscle tired and sore. "Emergency roadside should have come after the crash happened." He reached into his coat pocket for his phone, but he realized he wasn't wearing his coat. And his clothes were filthy. Feeling slowly through his pockets, he found his phone in his pants pocket. Flipping it open, he pulled up the phonebook… but his regular numbers were gone. "Uh, Lana?"

"What?" she asked in a huffy tone.

"Did… did you dial a lot of 976 numbers with my telephone?" He looked over, confusion on his face.

Anyone driving down the dark highway would have been treated to the chorus of a billionaire being slapped and a former princess cursing loudly.


	13. Chapter 13

We've reached the end. Hope you like it. I own nothing.

Chap 13

Clark had to keep his arm around Chloe to keep her from physically shaking in excitement. Glancing over, he couldn't help but smile at the big grin she had on her face as they stood in front of the counter at the Talon. "Chloe, calm down. Just one more minute ok?"

Chloe pouted slightly looking up at him.

Clark shook his head. "Oh I'm going to hurt Buffy for teaching you that one."

Chloe grinned again. "Come on Clark, it's been like three days since I had a latte, or an almond mocha, or an espresso, all I've had is your dad's coffee, which is good, but it's just plain black coffee, so I just want a little one, ok? Oh, and Spike taught it to me, not Buffy," she rambled off, looking at the menu again.

Clark stared at her. "You're already buzzing this much seeing coffee, I don't think a slayer with a caffeine rush is a good idea."

Buffy poked Clark in the back. "Hey, can we hold off on using that word so openly? I've had to get onto Spike enough for it."

The four were at the Talon to see the classic movie being shown tonight, one of the coffee house's little perks. After a few days of rest, they were out on a simple, ordinary date night. After getting drinks and snacks, they all went into the theater, Spike wanting to sit in the back, but the girls arguing to sit closer. Spike turned to Clark for support, but he just shrugged.

"Traitor," Spike muttered, stepping over some other people to get into the seats. Chloe and Buffy sat together with the guys on either side.

As soon as the lights went down, Spike yelped out, "OW!" He was met with shushes from all over. A few minutes later, he felt another flick at his ear. "What the hell?" Buffy shushed him, pointing at him with a look that said to be good. Just after the movie started, Spike was flicked again. "Ok, who the bloody…?" He was cut off by a light shining in his face, and some pimply faced teenager stuttering orders. Not even looking behind him, Spike knew this was no good.

--

"I can not believe you got us kicked out of our first real date, William Pratt!"

Clark and Chloe sat in the front seat, listening to Spike getting chewed a new one. Clark was fighting hard to not laugh, making Chloe stare at him curiously.

"Why? Why can't I take you anywhere without you acting like a three year old?" Buffy sat back, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm tellin' you Buffy, something kept hittin' me. I bet it was that little punk behind us, he had that caramel corn stuff."

Chloe suddenly looked at Clark, catching his eye. She mouthed "Was that you?"

Clark didn't say a word, but his quivering lip gave him away. Chloe pinched his hand, but she was smiling herself. Turning to the back seat, she asked "Well how about some dinner you guys? Any thoughts?"

Buffy was still upset, and Spike was huffy himself, not answering right away.

Clark took the moment to speak up. "I think my dad was talking about grilling out tonight. Mom's making all the trimmings."

"Oooh that sounds great!" "Why didn't you mention that before we went out?" "Turn the bloody truck around, Farmboy, move it!"

--

Spike leaned up against the arm of the sofa, Buffy against him. He was too full to even move. Jonathan had figured up the final tally. Between six people they had gone through five chickens and at least two pounds of steak.

The damage to the house had been rebuilt over a couple of days. Between Clark's speed, Spike's strength and Jonathan's skills, the walls and kitchen were back to normal in no time. Spike had even offered to cover all the costs, with a handful of cash he had found in the pocket of Lex's torn trench coat.

Clark was in the recliner, with Chloe laid out on the arm, leaning into him. They were watching a DVD, "Dirty Dancing". Chloe and Buffy had won the argument with strategic pouts, after which Clark threatened Spike again for ever teaching his girlfriend to do that.

Spike sighed. "What is the big deal about putting her in the corner? She was being a pain in the arse." He got an elbow in the stomach, leading to a rather loud burp, which led to Mrs. Kent getting onto him for his manners. After a grumbled apology, he sighed again.

After the first hour, Clark had dozed off, unable to deal with the blossoming love story and a full stomach of his mom's cooking. Spike followed closely after, leaving both girls to just shake their heads.

Martha and Jonathan stood in the kitchen, just watching the couples. Jonathan slipped his arms around Martha, his head on her shoulder. "It's good to see him happy finally. I've been worried about Clark, I'll admit that."

Touching her husband's cheek, Martha nodded. "He's happy now. Chloe has given him that much. Did you know…?" Martha bit her lip slightly. "I've always held out a hope for them, since he brought her home in 8th grade to show her a real working farm."

Jonathan chuckled at the memory, recalling how Clark had moved around on autopilot all that night, a dazed look on his face. It took him hours to get the truth out of Clark about what happened. "She took him by surprise, that's for sure." Looking at his wife, he leaned in, whispering. "But there is something we do have that these kids don't."

Martha turned to him. "Oh? And what might that be?"

Jonathan grinned. "This is our house. No one can yell at us for disappearing behind a locked door."

Martha jumped when her husband patted her rear. "Jonathan, no. The kids are here. We can't…"

Buffy and Chloe were the only ones to notice Jonathan and Martha slipping up the stairs, Martha starting to move quicker at the middle landing, Jonathan taking off after her.

"They are so cute." Buffy said, Chloe nodding in response.

Clark shifted some. "Who's cute?" he asked, blinking sleepily.

"Your parents. They just went upstairs."

Clark looked to the stairs. "They didn't want to watch the movie?"

Chloe bit her lip, chuckling softly. "Uhhh, no. I think they had something else in mind."

Clark looked from his girlfriend to Buffy, then back to Chloe. "Like what?" He turned back to the stairs, hearing something. He perked his ear, trying to listen to what was so important his folks didn't want to hang out with them.

His mom was giggling. "Jonathan stop that… Jonathan… ooooh Jonathan."

His eyes going wide, Clark jumped up, making Chloe fall into the recliner he had just vacated. "Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! I'LL BE IN THE BARN!" Clark was out of the house in a flash, the screen door slamming behind him.

Spike shot up when he heard the door shut. "Whassat? What happened?"

Buffy shook her head. "Clark heard his parents upstairs and he couldn't handle it like a grown up."

Spike looked at the stairs, then laid his head back on the sofa arm. "Go Jonathan. Martha's pretty cute for an older broad."

Spike ended up spending the night out in the loft with Clark again.

--

Clark walked in the house the next morning slowly, eyes scanning all around the house. Listening carefully, he didn't hear anything horribly disturbing occurring upstairs, so he came into the kitchen.

Getting out the breakfast basics, he started to cook up a nice meal, preparing enough for anyone else who might come down. Usually his mom was up cooking, but… his body shook with a noticeable shiver.

Buffy was the first to walk downstairs. "Hey Clark." She hopped up onto the counter stool, hands under her chin as she watched him. Her hair was tangled and sticking out on one side.

"Good morning. Hungry?" he asked, tossing several strips of bacon into a pan.

Buffy nodded. "Yea, Chloe and I watched Titanic after the movie finished last night. Then we talked a lot. I think we went to sleep like… three hours ago." She yawned to emphasize this.

Clark went about with cooking, only to stop when he noticed Buffy staring at him. "Is something wrong?"

"You didn't yawn."

Clark smiled, a little confused. "Um, no, I guess I didn't. What's that got to do with anything?"

Buffy shrugged. "Usually when someone yawns, everyone that sees them yawns too. You didn't."

Clark just shrugged. "I guess I'm just unique."

Buffy snorted, slapping her hand over her mouth. "Understatement of the century."

Putting the bacon on a plate with some napkins to soak up the grease, Clark started on the eggs. "Fried, scrambled, sunny side up?" he asked, turning to Buffy.

"Scrambled, please and thank you."

He nodded, cracking a few into the pan. After a little bit of silence, he finally spoke up. "Have you talked to Willow or Xander lately? I figured they'd want to know how Spike was."

"Yea, I called them a couple of days ago. They're glad to hear he's fine. And to hear you stopped yet another possibly world ending thing," she informed him, smiling when he blushed slightly.

"It was nothing major. Just a couple more people the meteor rocks have infected."

"Clark, I saw what they did to you. You can't pass that little ditty off on me." She sat up, looking at him. "Clark, what do you… I mean… do you think…?"

Scrambling the eggs quickly, he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Buffy Summers is speechless? Wow."

She tossed a napkin at him. "Shut it. I still know your secret weakness. Don't make me use the pout."

Clark laughed. "No offense, but that only works when it's Chloe's pout, so…" He turned back from putting bread in the toaster to see Buffy's bottom lip trembling. And he caved. "Ok fine, no more jokes about you talking non stop."

Buffy grinned. "Thank you."

Clark went back to cooking. "So what did you want to ask me?"

Buffy got serious again. "Do you think Spike wants to be with me?"

"Are you kidding? That's all he talks about Buffy, especially last night. He was ticked off for a while that you guys kicked him out, but then he just talked about you. You know, when he first saw you he forgot all about trying to kill you? That was strange to me at first, but I guess it makes sense." Clark put the eggs on a plate. "He's afraid, Buffy."

She looked up, meeting his eyes. "Of what? Spike's fearless."

"He's afraid you'll 'wise up and leave his no good worthless no longer undead arse'. That's a direct quote by the way." Clark put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of Buffy. "Orange juice or milk?"

Buffy stared at her fork, his question finally registering. "Oh, milk please." Clark got her drink and put it on the counter in front of her. "Did… did he tell you about our past?"

Clark shook his head. "No. That's your business. I'm not going to pry into things unless I know the people want me to know." Getting a plate of his own, he sat down next to her, taking the bottle of milk with him. Digging into his breakfast, he took a big gulp of milk before noticing Buffy giving him the evil eye. "What? There's barely a glass worth in here, I'm not gonna dirty up another cup."

Buffy just shook her head. "If you say so." Quietly, she ate her breakfast. After putting her plate in the sink, she hopped up, sitting on the counter. "I'm afraid he's gonna realize that I'm nothing special. I haven't been a good person to him Clark. I've used him in a lot of ways. To help fight, to help with Dawn. And… other things."

Clark just nodded. "Do you want to know what I think?"

She could only nod.

"I think that you guys lived in a really messed up town. I mean, the mouth of Hell itself was under your school. And, I think we can agree that Spike wasn't exactly a normal guy when you first met. But things changed didn't they? Over time, you both adapted. Before your relationship was ever… as complicated as it got, for reasons I have a theory on but won't go into… he was helping you guys. And I've heard about the chip excuse, but that didn't make him keep your sister safe from, what was her name, Glory?" Buffy nodded. "So obviously he was changing. Who's to say you didn't make each other change?"

She didn't say anything to that, she just nodded. "I guess you're right. I think we're both so screwed up we're scared the other will just cut their losses and run."

"I don't think that's going to happen Buffy. I mean seriously, who else are you going to find to put up with you?" He smiled at her.

Buffy laughed, throwing a piece of toast at him. Clark caught it, taking a bite. "Look, Spike loves you, I can promise you that. I can hear it every time he says your name. So don't doubt it because of a fear."

Buffy blinked back some tears, wiping at her eyes. Looking down at his eggs, Clark decided to change things up. "So, you died huh?"

"Yea, twice," Buffy answered quickly. "You?"

"Just the once. Gun shot."

She nodded. "Yea, I had one of those too. It didn't kill me, just you know… resulted in my best friend turning evil and trying to end the world because of all the pain. Sooooo…"

"Wanna watch Saturday morning cartoons?"

"Oh god yes, thanks."

--

Clark was sitting at one end of the sofa, Buffy on the other. He checked his watch, sighing. "It's 9:28."

She looked over at him. "Yea, aren't your parents usually up and about by now?"

At that, Clark looked green again.

Buffy had to chuckle. "Oh come on Clark, your parents are normal human beings. In fact your dad is kinda hot."

He looked at her with wide eyes. "W-what?"

Buffy simply nodded. "Yup. Chloe and I agree, your dad is the hottest guy over four decades that we know of."

Clark was up and pacing. "Oh man. Please, just stop."

"Clark just sit down and quit being a baby. If you keep being loud they might wake up and go at it again." She burst out laughing when he dashed out of the house with a quick "Igottagodochores" tossed behind him.

--

Clark was outside moving the hay bales for the third time when a silver Lamborghini came up the drive slowly.

Clark pulled his gloves off, walking down out of the loft. Standing in the main doorway, he saw Lex climb out of the driver's seat, bandages on his face and his left hand in a soft cast. Lex meandered over towards Clark without making eye contact.

"Hello Lex. What brings you down here this morning?"

Lex pulled his sunglasses off, showing a set of nasty bruised black eyes. "Hello Clark. I came out to ask you a question."

Clark motioned to an old spool near the door, moving and leaning against a post. Lex stepped inside the barn, declining the seat. "Clark, it's about your new friend, Spike. I did some checking, and there are a few things you need to know."

Clark shook his head, chuckling. Crossing his arms, he looked at Lex. "I don't want to hear it, Lex. Haven't you learned your lesson about investigating people's lives?"

Lex rubbed his hands together slowly. "Clark, I only did this because I don't think you understand what is going on."

"No I think I do, Lex. You got shown up last week, and that doesn't sit to well with you. Just take my advice, and back off." Clark moved past Lex, "accidentally" brushing against his shoulder, hearing the older man stifle a pained noise.

As Lex moved back toward his car, Clark poked his head out of the barn door. "Oh hey Lex, what happened to you?"

Putting his shades back on, Lex turned slowly. "I had a small accident involving a tree."

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. You weren't hurt too badly were you?"

Lex held up his hand. "Just a few bumps and bruises. Lana suffered a slight knee injury, but she's ok."

Clark nodded. "Well, if there's anything we can do, let us know Lex."

Clark stood there until the sports car pulled away, finally letting a small smile cross his face. He felt a little bad about lying to Lex, but he also felt… free. He felt he was ahead of the curve for once, and Lex was trailing behind. Heading for the stairs to the loft, Clark stopped… then grinned as he turned, facing the loft, and floated up with ease.

--

Clark walked inside the house around noon, seeing Buffy and Chloe discussing spring techniques with Spike being used as the practice dummy. Chloe was getting a lot of the moves down quickly, grinning when she saw him come in. Walking over, she gave him a hug, followed by a quick kiss. "Buffy say's I'm a natural when it comes to slaying."

Clark laughed. "I guess that's a good thing, right?"

After a quick lunch that Martha whipped up, followed by her and Jonathan taking a picnic basket outside and Clark having to punch Spike for teasing him about his parents, they were sitting around the living room, watching music videos. Clark saw Spike holding a folder, looking through it intently. "What's that, Spike?"

"These are the papers Chloe and the Scoobies made up for me. They were pretty thorough. High school diploma, College degree. Apparently, I'm certified to teach English and British Literature from the 17th century through the 20th." He tossed the folder over to Clark.

Chloe perked up at the new conversation. "Wow, so you could go and get a teaching position at a good college most easily with these credentials. This degree is from one of the oldest universities in the country, Spike. This has some serious clout."

Spike just grinned. "I don't know about that. I didn't actually earn any of this." Buffy poked him in the ribs. "What? I didn't, I was busy being the Big Bad."

Buffy laughed. "Ok, the alliteration of that sentence aside, I remember your crypt in Sunnydale. If it was a stuffy writer or poet, you had the book. You know all about this stuff, you could have taught the professors a thing or two. So don't hide behind that excuse." She pointed a finger in his face, her lips set in a pronounced frown.

Spike sighed. "Do you really think I could do it? I mean, I'd be molding the young minds of tomorrow."

Clark made a weird noise. "Wow, since you put it that way…"

Buffy had to threaten Spike to keep him from jumping at Clark. After the commotion settled down, Spike leaned back, hands behind his head. "I guess I might give it a shot. Who's to say I won't enjoy it."

"I know I wouldn't mind you as my professor. It'd be a nice view at least." Chloe let out a wolf whistle, bursting into laughter.

Buffy joined in. "Oh yea, you would make a fiiiiiiiiine professor."

Spike rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Professor Fine, huh?"

--

_There you go folks. My last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, and I'm sorry about the long break. I hope it was worth the wait. Who knows, there might be a future for the fighting foursome at some later point. Thanks for reading. _


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